U.S. Teachers Work More Than Counterparts Abroad

L.A. Times Archives

Dec. 12, 1996 12 AM PT

<i> From Associated Press</i>

WASHINGTON —

U.S. schoolteachers teach longer hours than most of their colleagues abroad. Their pay ranks high worldwide, but looks worse when compared to salaries for other jobs, according to a new study.

Making the profession attractive to newcomers is becoming increasingly important as the United States and other countries anticipate a teacher shortage, said the study released this week by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“U.S. teachers teach long hours for low relative pay,” said Andreas Schleicher, principal author of the study conducted by the Paris-based organization.

The group collected data on education in 30 countries during 1993, 1994 and 1995. One section focused on teachers in 18 countries.

The study said the starting salary was $22,753 for U.S. public elementary schoolteachers and $22,265 for middle school. Only Switzerland, Germany and Spain paid teachers more than the United States in both categories. The average for all the countries was $18,702 for primary school and $19,685 for middle school.

Yet, America’s ranking falls when its starting teacher salaries are viewed in relation to the average income per person, which the study says reflects the economic status of the teaching profession. When viewed this way, starting salaries are the lowest in Norway, Sweden and the United States, the study said.

“We’re not getting the best and the brightest. Business offers them some pretty competitive salaries,” said Lily Eskelsen, a teacher at Orchard Elementary School, just west of Salt Lake City. “Our competition is siphoning off people who say, ‘I really think I’d be a good teacher, but I can’t sacrifice my family’s economic well-being.’ ”

The study also found that public elementary schoolteachers in the United States, Switzerland and the Netherlands teach for the most hours among the 18 countries. Teachers in Sweden, Norway and the Czech Republic taught the least number of hours.

American teachers taught 958 hours a year in elementary school, 964 hours in middle school and 943 hours in high school during 1994, the study said. That is more than the overall country average of 818 hours for elementary school, 760 for middle school and 688 for high school.

The study also compared high school graduation rates, an area where America traditionally has ranked high among the world’s richest nations. But other countries are gaining ground, the report said.

Eighty-five percent of the U.S. population ages 25 to 64 had completed at least high school in 1994, according to the study, while 59% was the average for the more than two dozen countries surveyed.

Younger generations elsewhere, however, are obtaining more education--shown in a comparison of people ages 25 to 34 with those in the 55-64 range, the study said.

In Finland and France, the percentage in the younger group that completed upper secondary education was more than 40 percentage points higher than for the elder group. The difference is only about 10 percentage points in the United States--the smallest difference of all the countries surveyed.

In post-secondary education, Canada holds a comfortable lead. Fifty-one percent of its 25- to 34-year-old adults completed post-secondary degrees in 1994. The United States was second with 32%. Norway and Belgium ranked third and fourth with about 30%.

“The United States is ahead, but not by all that much,” said Marshall Smith, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

High School Graduates

The percentage of the population 25 to 64 years of age that had completed upper secondary education, equivalent to high school in the United States, in 1994.

Australia: 50%

Austria: 68%

Belgium: 49%

Canada: 49%

Czech Republic: 73%

Denmark: 60%

Finland: 64%

France: 67%

Germany: 84%

Greece: 45%

Ireland: 45%

Italy: 33%