Kentucky Teacher Compensation lags behind the South: SREB Teacher Compensation Dashboard
With the issue of education funding and teacher pensions looming in the 2021 General Assembly, a new tool from the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) shines a light on the importance of the issue of teacher compensation for Kentucky. The SREB Teacher Compensation Dashboard shows that compensation for teachers in Kentucky lags behind most other states in the South. Considering the fact that teacher pay in the South is behind the national average, Kentucky teachers are among the lowest paid in the country. According to the site, teachers are paid 20 percent lower in the South than similarly educated professionals in the region. Kentucky ranks in the lowest quintile of southern states in terms of net pay. The net pay for new as well as experienced teachers in Kentucky is about $10,000 behind the regional average and even further behind the nation. Kentucky's retirement system is one of the bright spots of the analysis. The state's pension is one of three southern stat...