Headline Roundup • April 30th, 2026
Are Teacher Salaries Keeping Up With Inflation?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The National Education Association (NEA) released an annual report showing a 3.5% average increase in public school teacher salaries.
The Data: The report showed the national average salary for public school teachers at $74,495, not including benefits. The report also breaks down and ranks salries by state, showing California, New York, and Washington at the top of the list while Mississippi, Florida, and Louisiana rank at the bottom end of the list. The NEA report also projected salaries adjusted for inflation by comparing to salaries from 2017, showing that while pay has risen, after the adjustment real earnings have declined by nearly 5%.
'Politics Masquerading As Research': Terry Stoops, writing opinion for Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias) said "don't waste your time reading" the NEA report, explaining that "for decades, [NEA] has inspired ominous headlines in every media market in America" while offering research that "is a clear violation of basic professional standards in education research." The researchers do not offer any opportunities for assessment of its dataset, methodology, or calculations, and according to Stoops, "Anonymous NEA researchers offer only a few vague, throwaway sentences and clarifying information for state education agencies willing to provide it." Stoops also called the salary estimates misleading since they don't include information pertaining to benefits and bonuses. Stoops asserted that "the problem is that the NEA's problematic research drives real-world policy and budgetary decisions," while in the end, it is simply "a tool of political gamesmanship" and "politics masquerading as research."
Inflation's Effect: NPR (Lean Left) framed coverage around the NEA report showing the effects of inflation on the higher salaries, with the headline, "Inflation is sucking the life out of teacher pay raises." The article conceded, however, that the data has not been adjusted to account for differences in the cost of living in different areas, explaining that this may "account for at least some of the gap in salaries." The article also quoted NEA President Becky Pringle saying "Dedicated educators show up every day in classrooms across this country to inspire, support, and lift up their students, but too many are struggling to stay in the profession they love." According to NPR, President Donald Trump's efforts to "dismantle the U.S. Department of Education" is only affecting what the NEA data shows as a "small" federal footprint of funding.
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Featured Coverage of this Story
LA Johnson/NPR
The average salary for a public school teacher in the U.S. rose to $74,495 in the last school year, up 3.5% from the year before. But adjusted for inflation, today's teachers are estimated to be earning less, not more, than they were in 2017. That's according to a new review of school-related data from the National Education Association (NEA), the nation's largest teachers union with 3 million members.
Every spring, the National Education Association publishes "Rankings and Estimates," an annual publication whose centerpiece is a ranking of average teacher salaries by state. For decades, it has inspired ominous headlines in every media market in America, warning that public schools in states that don't pour money into teacher salaries are doomed. Don't waste your time reading it.
