JACKSON — Mississippi has the lowest average teacher salaries in the nation and the third-lowest when adjusted for cost of living, according to a new report from the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor.
State Auditor Shad White said the findings show that even with Mississippi’s lower cost of living, teachers in the state remain among the lowest paid in the country.
“My team found that even when you adjust for Mississippi’s low cost of living, teachers here are still some of the lowest paid in the nation,” White said in a statement. “We need to cut the amount of money spent on administration and bureaucracy and redirect that money to what actually matters: teacher salaries and inside-the-classroom spending.”
According to the report, Mississippi public-school teachers earn less than teachers in every other state based on the most recent available data. Analysts also found that once inflation is considered, the average teacher salary in Mississippi is worth less today than it was in 2008.
The audit noted that Mississippi’s cost of living is about 12.7% lower than the national average. Even after adjusting for that difference, Mississippi teacher salaries still trail the national average by nearly $9,000, the report said.
The report also found that Mississippi spends a larger percentage of its education budget on administration than any other state in the South. Previous recommendations from the auditor’s office have urged lawmakers to redirect administrative and other non-classroom spending toward teacher pay.
White again pointed to a proposal he introduced last year that would require at least 50% of the state’s K-12 education budget to be spent on teacher salaries. According to the auditor’s office, such a change could make Mississippi teachers among the highest paid in the nation.
“When you adjust for inflation, Mississippi’s teachers are paid less than they would have been during the Great Recession,” White said. “It’s past time for the state to put more money toward teacher salaries and classroom supplies and less toward administrative costs.”
The full report is available on the State Auditor’s website under the “Reports” section by searching “Teacher Salaries.”
