INDIANAPOLIS – As Republican state lawmakers applaud a new report showing that, for the first time, Indiana’s average annual teacher pay exceeded $60,000, Democratic leaders continue to push for a state salary minimum that would ensure all educators make at least that much from day one.
The average teacher salary in Indiana during the last school year was $60,557 — up from $58,531 the year prior — according to the 2023-24 state teacher compensation report by the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board (IEERB). Before that, average annual salaries were $56,609 in 2021-2022 and $53,991 in 2020-21.
The lowest teacher salary reported was $40,000 — the current state-mandated minimum. The highest was $110,000. Teacher’s salaries are set by local school districts.
Nearly all, 98%, of Hoosier school districts gave teachers a raise last year, benefitting about 92% of educators statewide, the report indicated.
The IEERB reported that about 32,000 full-time Hoosier teachers earned above the 2023-2023 statewide average, while roughly 31,300 educators still earned below that margin. The report cited 63,462 full-time teachers employed during the academic year.
Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond, who chairs the senate education committee, lauded the new salary report in a weekly email to constituents. He pointed to a 2023 law he sponsored that ensures at least 62% of schools’ state tuition support is used for teacher salaries and benefits.
Raatz emphasized, too, that in 2021, Indiana lawmakers included a provision in the previous state budget that barred schools from reducing the total amount budgeted for teacher salaries, with limited exceptions.
Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb and other top state GOP officials have repeatedly said they intend to make teacher pay competitive with surrounding states and get Indiana’s average teacher salary up to $60,000.
Read the rest of the Casey Smith story for the Indiana Capital Chronicle, here.
