April 18, 2002 |
2002-R-0449 | |
TEACHER PENSIONS, SALARIES, AND STUDENT TEST SCORES | ||
By: Judith Lohman, Chief Analyst | ||
You asked for a (1) list of states that allow teachers to retire with a full pension with 30 or fewer years of service, regardless of age; (2) average teacher salaries in those states; and (3) student test scores for those states.
The table below shows the requested information. We have provided the percentage of students' achieving proficiency or better on the 4th and 8th grade reading and math National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) tests, since it is a national test and provides results that are comparable from state to state. Since not every state participates in NAEP, we cannot provide scores for every state.
Table 1: Teacher Pension Service Requirements, Average Teacher Salaries, and Student Math and Reading Scores in Selected States
State |
Years required for full pension, regardless of age1 |
Average Salary 2000-012 |
% Proficient or Above 4th Grade NEAP3 |
% Proficient or Above 8th Grade NEAP3 | ||
Math (1998) |
Reading (2000) |
Math (1998) |
Reading (2000) | |||
Alabama |
25 |
$ 37,956 |
14% |
24% |
16% |
21% |
Alaska |
20 |
48,123 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
Arkansas |
28 |
34,641 |
14 |
23 |
14 |
23 |
Delaware |
30 |
47,047 |
NA |
25 |
NA |
25 |
Florida |
25 |
38,230 |
NA |
23 |
NA |
23 |
Georgia |
30 |
42,216 |
18 |
24 |
19 |
25 |
Kentucky |
27 |
36,589 |
17 |
29 |
21 |
29 |
State |
Years required for full pension, regardless of age1 |
Average Salary 2000-012 |
% Proficient or Above 4th Grade NEAP3 |
% Proficient or Above 8th Grade NEAP3 | ||
Math (1998) |
Reading (2000) |
Math (1998) |
Reading (2000) | |||
Louisiana |
30 |
33,615 |
14 |
19 |
12 |
18 |
Maine |
25 |
36,373 |
24 |
36 |
32 |
42 |
Maryland |
30 |
45,963 |
22 |
29 |
28 |
31 |
Massachusetts |
20 |
47,789 |
33 |
37 |
33 |
36 |
Mississippi |
25 |
31,954 |
9 |
18 |
8 |
19 |
Missouri |
30 |
36,722 |
24 |
29 |
21 |
29 |
Montana |
25 |
33,249 |
25 |
37 |
38 |
38 |
Nevada |
30 |
40,443 |
16 |
21 |
19 |
24 |
New Mexico |
25 |
33,785 |
12 |
22 |
13 |
24 |
North Carolina |
30 |
41,151 |
28 |
28 |
30 |
31 |
Ohio |
30 |
42,764 |
26 |
NA |
31 |
NA |
Rhode Island |
28 |
48,474 |
24 |
32 |
24 |
30 |
South Carolina |
30 |
37,938 |
18 |
22 |
17 |
22 |
Tennessee |
30 |
37,431 |
18 |
25 |
17 |
26 |
Utah |
30 |
36,441 |
na |
28 |
26 |
31 |
Vermont |
30 |
38,254 |
30 |
NA |
32 |
NA |
1Source: 2000 Comparative Study of Major Public Employee Retirement Systems, Wisconsin Legislative Council
2Source: National Education Association
3Source: Nation's Report Card, National Assessment of Educational Progress.
JL: ts