Teacher salaries in Alaska are not competitive when compared to much of the Lower 48, according to new research fromAlaska teachers are paid below the national average once their salaries adjusted for the high cost of living in Alaska, said Matthew Berman, a professor of Economics at UAA and one of two authors of the
While Dunleavy and lawmakers indicated this month there was still a chance that Alaska school districts could see a financial boost to public education before the end of the fiscal year, it wasn’t clear how, when or how much money districts could expect. Alaska lawmakersFunding and hiring challenges appear to be especially acute in rural communities off the road system, where districts also face higher operating costs, fewer housing options and a harsher climate, the study found.
That report showed a shrinking gap between how much Alaska teachers made compared to the Lower 48, but still placed Alaska 10th in the nation for highest teacher pay — at about 11% higher than the national average. “A gallon of milk costs more in Anchorage than it does in Albuquerque. And it costs more in Nome than it does in Anchorage,” the authors wrote in the study, explaining the importance of paying attention to cost of living when looking at differences in salaries between places.