by Jack Lee
In California the overall average wage paid to all teachers exceeds all states except for New York. In average per pupil spending, California comes in low, we are out-spent by all states except two in the South. Note; Teacher salaries are averaged in with administration salaries in higher education and that skews the average. For a better idea of 8-12 only wages look at the next paragraph.
In secondary schools California is in 3rd place for wages with $58,240 average and is only bested by New Jersey at $59,110 and Illinois $59,250. Alaska which is known for high wages average is $54,040. Hawaii, also known for high cost of living comes in at $51,390. Source: click here.
California teachers ranked 49th out of 50 states with the highest teacher per pupil ratio.
California students tend to lag behind almost most other states in the nation. However, 70% of white and Asian students exceeded the medium national proficiency, but only 40% of black and Hispanic students reached the same 50th percentile mark.
Today’s kids look different (from 1980 to 2005)
Latinos are up 187% to 3,004,000
African Americans are up 24% to 495,000
Asian Americans are up 133% to 517,000
White students are down 17% to 1,195,000
DATA: California Department of Education
California ranks 50th of 50 states in staff-to-student ratios
68 staff for every 1,000 California students
90 staff for every 1,000 students is the national average
DATA: National Center for Education Statistics, 2004-05