rachel schwartzbard
Rachel SchwartzbardResearch Associate

Closing the Teacher Pay Gap

It’s no secret that the U.S. is facing a teacher shortage. There are numerous reasons for this shortage, but a notable contributing factor that states grapple with is teacher compensation.  

Teacher salaries have not kept pace with the market over the past few decades. This has made hiring and retaining highly qualified teachers difficult for many school districts.  

However, some states have begun addressing lagging teacher wages more assertively of late, aiming to stem attrition rates.  

South Dakota is one of these states. In South Dakota, the Teacher Compensation Review Board (TCRB) recently took a data-informed approach to monitor the state’s teacher compensation policy and made recommendations to ensure education funding intended to increase teacher pay is actually reaching teachers.  

For the 2021-22 school year, the average teacher salary in South Dakota was $50,592. For those keeping track, that is 49th in the country.  

Meanwhile, the state’s neighbors, North Dakota and Wyoming, had average salaries of $55,666, and $60,819, respectively. Teachers looking to move don’t need to go far to earn a much higher salary, as shown in Figure 1.  

 Figure 1. Average Teacher Salary 

Figure 1. Bar chart comparing average teacher salaries for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years in Wyoming, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana, and South Dakota. Minnesota leads at around $65,000, while Wyoming comes in second around $60,000. The other states fall in the $49,000-$59,000 range.

Source: Marzano Research analysis of data from the National Education Association and Bureau of Economic Analysis. 

Teacher shortages create all sorts of challenges—increased class size, lack of academic course offerings, limited extracurricular classes, and potential burnout among remaining staff.  

While this sounds bleak, there is reason to be optimistic.  

Due to these concerns, the South Dakota Department of Education (SDDOE) partnered with Marzano Research to conduct a thorough review of teacher compensation across the state.  

First, we looked at the trend in baseline salary for teachers in the state.  

Good news: it’s rising!  

In 2016, South Dakota raised sales tax by half a cent, with the intention of raising teacher salaries. Figure 2 shows the increases in teacher pay over the past several years. 

Figure 2. Baseline Teacher Salary 

Figure 2. Bar chart showing South Dakota baseline teacher salary in the 2015-16 through 2021-22 school years. Salaries climbed steadily each year over that time period, from $32,546 to $41,113.

Source: Marzano Research analysis of data from the National Education Association and Bureau of Economic Analysis. 

As the baseline rises, so does the average. Our research projects a new current average of $51,363, a substantial increase from the previously mentioned salary.  

South Dakota takes action

TRCB met throughout the summer and generated a lot of news media across the state about teacher compensation and the future of the teacher workforce. Here is some of the news coverage from those meetings:  

 While the state’s average teacher salary has increased since 2016, the increases in teacher pay have not kept pace with increases provided through the state aid funding formula. In the wake of partnering with Marzano Research to dig into district data, the SDDOE is actively exploring methods to hold districts accountable for using state education funds to increase teacher pay.  

At the September board meeting, the board unanimously voted to direct the SDDOE to “craft an updated teacher salary/compensation accountability model which enhances average teacher salaries at the district and state levels.”  

In her budget address on Dec. 5, 2023, Gov. Kristi Noem indicated that she would be working with South Dakota Secretary of Education, Dr. Joseph Graves, to bring some ideas to the legislature about how to bridge the gap between state funding increases for education and increases in teacher pay.  

Taking a data-informed approach to teacher compensation and other issues surrounding their teacher shortage enabled South Dakota to determine specific action steps that could ultimately impact teacher retention and compensation in the state.  

For more information about this initiative, check out the complete TCRB report.  

For more information about partnering with Marzano Research to take a data-driven approach to education concerns or challenges in your state, district, or school, reach out to Mike Siebersma.