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In California, nearly 307,000 teachers work in public school classrooms in 2008-09, compared to more than 310,000 the prior year. The background, qualifications, training and abilities of this vast workforce are central to the quality of schooling students receive. Their compensation represents the bulk of school expenditures, and their interactions with students are the essence of the educational enterprise.
The state of California sets a baseline for teacher qualifications through its credentialing requirements and procedures. Each school district, however, is responsible for hiring teachers, setting salary and benefit levels, and assigning teachers to specific schools. Recruiting qualified teachers, providing ongoing training for existing teachers, and encouraging them to stay in the profession are some of the biggest challenges in public education today. |
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California’s teaching force is less diverse than its students |
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In 2008-09 California’s teachers were predominantly white (70.1%) and female (72.4%), quite a different look from the student population that was 51.4% male and had major ethnic categories of 49.0% Hispanic, 27.9% white, 8.4% Asian, and 7.3% African-American.
In 2008-09, teachers had an average of 13 years of service, with an average of 10.8 in their current district. |
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The state is working toward all highly qualified teachers |
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California had nearly 307,000 teachers in its schools in 2008-09, with plans to hire about 17,000 new teachers in 2009-10. Almost all teachers, 96%, had the appropriate credentials (one percent more than the year before). About 2.3% were on emergency permits or waivers, and another 2.8% were interns working toward their teaching credential. (The percentages do not add up to 100% because teacher credential data may not have been submitted or a teacher may hold one or more types of credential.)
Large urban districts, districts with rapid enrollment growth and districts that do not offer competitive salaries and working conditions often have greater difficulty hiring fully credentialed teachers. California offers several types of credentials: multiple subject (usually elementary school); single subject (usually middle or high school); specialist (special education, reading); and adult or vocational education. Special credentials — Crosscultural, Language, and Academic Development (CLAD), or Bilingual Crosscultural, Language, and Academic Development (BCLAD) — have been required to teach students classified as English Learners in certain circumstances. Teachers can hold more than one credential. To receive a preliminary teaching credential, which is valid for five years, a prospective teacher must
Most candidates take a year of graduate courses at an accredited teacher training institution, usually with practice teaching, to receive a preliminary credential. To receive a "clear" credential, a teacher must complete a beginning teacher induction program. Clear credentials can be renewed every five years. National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification can also be used to obtain a clear credential. Several alternative pathways permit educators to enter the classroom without full credentials. For example, the one- or two-year University Internship allows a candidate to teach while still taking classes. Some districts have established their own internships that include a two-year professional development plan for the teacher. The Short-Term Staff Permit and the Provisional Internship Permit are waivers for districts that are unable to recruit suitable credentialed staff. Pre-internships and CalStateTEACH programs also allow individuals--including professionals changing careers--to hold paid teaching positions while completing credentialing requirements. University- and district-based programs must offer participants an early completion option allowing them to demonstrate pedagogical skills through examination. ABX5 1, signed into law in January 2010, established the Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Career Technical Education Educator (STEM-CTE) Credentialing Program. Under this program, by June 2010, the state must establish a process for authorizing alternative route educator preparation programs in those areas, and must allow community-based organizations to provide those preparation programs. Districts may request a waiver from the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) to hire or place a teacher in a position for which he or she does not have the appropriate credential. However, both emergency permits and waivers (except for Special Education in 2003) for "Title I" classrooms supported by federal funds were eliminated as of September 1, 2003. This applies to all classrooms as of July 1, 2005 as part of the State Board of Education’s plan to comply with the federal "No Child Left Behind" Act (NCLB). Under the act, all teachers in core academic areas--English, math, science, social science, arts, and foreign languages--must hold a bachelor's degree and either have a credential in the subject they teach or be enrolled in an alternative credentialing program (such as an internship) for up to three years. |
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Teachers’ salaries are set locally |
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Each district’s governing board sets a schedule for teachers’ salaries through the collective bargaining process negotiated between the district and the teachers’ representatives. The schedule is based on level of education and years of experience.
A teacher gains a salary increase for each step of the schedule based on length of service in the district and for each column based on earning additional educational credits. For example, "BA + 60" is the salary level for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree plus 60 additional credits. The contract specifies what professional development counts as a credit; some districts require a minimum amount of professional classes for their teachers. By state law, teachers hired after 1985 must complete 150 hours of professional growth classes every five years to retain their credentials. California law requires the district to report (on its school accountability report card, or SARC) its beginning, midrange and highest teacher salaries, the school-site principals’ and district superintendents’ salaries, and the percent spent on administrative and teachers’ salaries with comparisons to statewide averages (provided by the Superintendent of Public Instruction). The Ed-Data Teacher Salary report displays the average salaries paid rather than the average on the salary schedule or average offered. Therefore, in each district the "average" salary depends on the range of its salary schedule and teachers’ placement on it. A district with many beginning teachers and few at the top will have a much lower average even if their salaries are competitive with those in neighboring districts. Conversely, a district with an experienced, senior staff will have a higher average. These averages reflect considerable differences across the state, as districts vary in size, the degree of urbanization, and geographic region. |
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Benefits contribute substantially to total teacher compensation |
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The salary figures generally do not include the considerable amounts that are spent for a variety of employee benefits, both required and optional. These typically include professional development, health and life insurance, and retirement. Health benefits alone can be as much as 15% of salaries. California law requires each district to contribute to, among other things, the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS). The district contributes about 11.5% of the average teacher’s total compensation toward these benefits.
Often teachers also must contribute, for example, 8% of earnings for STRS and (on average) 9% for health insurance.
Comparisons of benefits among districts or even among employees of the same district can become quite complex. For example, a district could offer a single plan, two-party plan, family plan, or a cafeteria plan in which the employee selects benefits up to a total dollar allowance. Some districts also contribute to benefits for retired teachers. Occasionally salaries and benefits are combined into one lump sum, which complicates cross-district comparisons. This situation is noted in the Ed-Data Teacher Salary report where known. Further, some contracts call for higher salaries in lieu of benefits. Although there is some variation, expenditures on salaries and benefits for all employees typically make up 80 to 85% of a district’s budget, with the bulk of it going to teachers. |
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The number of teachers per student is largely a local decision |
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The pupil-teacher ratio is the total student enrollment divided by the number of full-time-equivalent teachers. The number of pupils per teacher is smaller than the average class size, which is the number of pupils attending divided by the number of classes. Some teachers have special assignments in a school or in the district and so are not confined to one subject or one classroom.
The combination of average salary, years of teaching experience, percent of emergency credentials, and pupil-teacher ratio gives a good picture of the teaching staff in a district. |
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For more information |
| See Negotiating Teachers’ Contracts in California and the 2002 EdSource report Teacher Pay in California. |
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Education Data Partnership
Comments to ed-data@cde.ca.gov.
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All contents copyright © 2010, Education Data Partnership.
All rights reserved. Revised February 09, 2010.
URL: http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us
