Average Salary for Teachers Rises 5.5% to Record $29,629

The average salary for teachers rose 5.5% to a record $29,629 last year, but after inflation the average teacher only earned about $700 more than in 1972, said a teachers union survey released Friday.

The annual report issued by the 710,000-member American Federation of Teachers said average beginning salaries for U.S. teachers went up by 5.8% during the 1988-1989 school year to reach $19,598.

Alaska had the highest average salary at $41,832, even though it was one of only three states--the others being Wyoming and Utah--where salaries fell. South Dakota had the lowest average salary at $20,525.

The rest of the top 10 are Connecticut, $37,659;, Washington, D.C., $36,787; New York, $36,654; Michigan, $35,530; California, $35,172; Rhode Island, $34,234; Maryland, $33,900; New Jersey, $32,862, and Massachusetts, $32,200.

Joining South Dakota in the bottom 10 are Arkansas, $21,736; West Virginia, $21,904; North Dakota, $22,249; Louisiana, $22,469; Mississippi, $22,579; Idaho, $22,732; Utah, $23,023; Oklahoma, $23,400, and Nebraska, $23,845,