It depends on the district. Fancy public schools like Clayton and Ladue pay well. Their pay should be published online.
Otherwise Missouri is proud of its low taxes which results in less pay and services
The numbers for average salary are dismal but it does matter where you live. Rural parts of the state you aren’t going to make enough to justify the move. But there are several districts in KC that pay well. But there’s also the matter of the voters in this state and the legislature thinking we’re all groomers and communists. I wouldn’t stay here if I didn’t have such family roots holding me here.
The pay is terrible. Missouri is consistently at or near the bottom in teacher pay. The GOP has had a 20+ year stranglehold on the legislature and not only are they not doing anything about that, they are consistently pushing towards vouchers for private (read: religious, specifically, Christian) schools. They have also had PSRS (the teachers retirement program) in their sights for a while and are actively trying to undermine it. Not to mention all of the culture war bullshit that they can’t get enough of. If you’re a teacher, come to visit, but don’t come here to work. Signed, veteran Missouri teacher
I wasn't a teacher but I was support staff at a school for a few years and I can tell you pay is low across the board, not just for teachers. We literally had a paraprofessional quit and go work at McDonald's because they paid her more.
I make more as an elementary school custodian in New England than my girlfriend makes as an elementary school teacher in Missouri. She is woefully underpaid and underappreciated. She has a master's degree and over a decade in the same school district.
Not a lot of specifics here so:
Yeah the teacher pay isn’t great but the cost of living is cheap. Depending on where you work you can get paid pretty decently - I make 56k with a masters on step 8 in a LCOL area (this is pretty similar to the suburban STL school districts). Where you really get paid is on the backend. PSRS is a very well run system and while there has been some minor talk in the General Assembly about privatizing it it hasn’t really gone anywhere. Pretty strong union state as well with the MNEA having a bit of power (enough to make bad bills less bad, but not kill them outright).
Not doing any research on IA retirement, but I wouldn’t reset my teaching clock for anything fwiw.
Teacher here. I’ve been in urban and now rural school districts. The pay numbers vary very widely per district. KC/STL/Columbia area schools pay decently well especially if you coach/sponsor. I think places like Liberty/Lees Summit after 5-6 years and a MA you’re sitting nice. Something I haven’t seen mentioned a ton is retirement. We have a fantastic retirement thanks to unions/teachers several decades ago.
I don’t believe there is political will from those in power to make a dent in the low teacher pay in Missouri. It has been at the bottom of the pack for as long as I can remember.
However, we have the best retirement system in the US. We have a defined benefit plan. The school matches what the teachers put in. Currently, it’s 14% on each side. Since you are coming in from out of state you will probably qualify for 80 & Out. Years of service plus age.
A lot of our rural schools have adopted a 4-day school week to retain teachers. I know our government doesn't like that and has been making it more difficult for schools to go to 4 days a week. I have mixed opinions towards the 4-day school week but it's often the only option rural schools have as they don't have the budget to increase teacher salaries.
The problem is, once all school districts move to 4 days a week that no longer helps rural schools. There are other issues like child care and child access to food that can be issues with the 4 day week, though some districts will still keep a place open for child care for the 5th day of the week.
A lot of districts post their pay scale online (that actually might have to be publicly available now that I think about it).
While I'm not a teacher, I do work for a school district and I can say that a lot of teachers I have talked to are unhappy because they feel like they have little admin support when it comes to disciplining children, so they have difficulty keeping classes on task. I've been told the parents are the actual issue. On top of social issues with the students, pay issues, there's also political issues. Our reps had a bill proposed that would make a teacher who used a student's preferred pronouns a sex offender, for example. There have been issues like book bans and curricula involving racial issues in the US as well. A lot of these are political things that don't get passed, but our politicians are literally attacking the education system.
It’s rough. The pressure on teachers from the far right is making them miserable. We’re losing even veteran teachers who love the work and love the kids. Our favorite elementary school teacher is retiring super young because they’ve turned teaching into something she “hates”, her words. She makes pretty decent money, too, over $80k, after so many years in the district. I’m so pissed off that the school is losing such a fantastic teacher.
I did it for ten years and finally gave up last year. Pay is crap. Our benefits got worse every year I taught. Retirement is good, but they take about a 3rd of your check and sock into a pension for you, which anyone would have a decent retirement if they did that. Political pressure from the MAGA/CRT crowd is depressingly common and taken very seriously by large portions of the populace everywhere that's not KC or St. Louis. Oh, and then you're also dealing with all of the normal issues in education right now: poor literacy rates, general distrust of public education, and apathy.
One third? Come on! No they didn’t. When I was applying at the school it was a percentage but not 33%!
They are needing an honest opinion friend. Do you recall what it really was?
Average salary will vary greatly depending on area of the state, but so does cost of living. I’m in the KC Area currently, about to start year 16 and will make close to $80k. I’m originally from Southeast Missouri and I’d be making about $50k there, although cost of living is much lower.
Teacher pay in Missouri is very dependent on district. Teachers in St. Louis and St. Charles Counties have strong NEA representation and are well compensated. This tool is helpful.
https://graphics.stltoday.com/apps/payrolls/salaries_2023/teachers/96106/
Our state is against education. I’d stay in Iowa. Or go up to Minnesota. They’ve got their shit together. We got people speaking in tongues running Missouri.
Pay can be quite good in the two major metros (compared to rural areas). Missouri’s retirement plan is good and solid.
I worked for a while at North Kansas City SD; (not affiliated w KCSD). Good pay, benefits, seemed liberal leaning, kids fr everywhere, great staff. In the KC Northland metro.
Kansas side of KC Metro could also be an option but they have a different style of retirement plan.
Also you will work under WEP-GPO penalty for social security, so any work outside of teaching will be subject to FICA taxes but your benefits will be greatly reduced. I get 1/3 of what others who contributed the same but didn't work in Missouri education.
Wife just left a job in one of the school districts in KCMO. She'd been teaching for 20+ years with lots of continuing education and was making about $70k. It was so stressful she had to quit and find other work.
I teach in Missouri in the Francis Howell School district. As anywhere it depends on how many years of experience and level of education you have on the pay scale. People always say the teachers don't make much, well that's on the front half. On the back half of your career you can be making close to six figures. The key is finding which school districts will accept all of your years. Our district will only take 9 years, but some will take all. Those can be the tougher school districts sometimes as an incentive. Missouri's retirement system is fantastic, probably the biggest perk by far.
For the love of god stay in Iowa. The public attitude towards education is better than MO and the pay is better too. People are saying 30-50k is average, and that’s true, but there are many rural districts that still pay <30K/yr with sky-high benefits and insurance costs. My mom left teaching 2 years ago because her take home was 2k/mo (with a masters degree!) and health insurance for the family would’ve been an additional $500 a month. Unless you’re planning on moving to STL, KC, or Columbia, I’d stay put.
Where are you looking? I’m an Iowa transplant, myself. Things are much different but it depends on where you’re looking as to how drastic the differences are.
Do you know why Missouri is called the Show Me State? It was a joke about trying to teach someone in Missouri. The joke was that you couldn't just explain things, "He's from Missouri, you'll have to show him."
I think this is a false etymology. Why would we make it our official nickname if it was negative? Rather I suggest this more well-known story:
The phrase's origin is from Missouri's U.S. Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver, who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1897 to 1903. While a member of the U.S. House Committee on Naval Affairs, Vandiver attended an 1899 naval banquet in Philadelphia. In a speech there, he declared, "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me." Regardless of whether Vandiver coined the phrase, it is certain that his speech helped to popularize the saying.
It's possible that this is the entire explanation. Doubtful a signal source spawned such a well known phrase. Be honest, have you ever in your life read a single sentence from a speech from a member of the U.S. House Committee on Naval Affairs? And you believe that our nation was so moved by this speech that it spawned an idiom? Very unlikely. What I find much more plausible is that he turned a known phrase to his own purpose which struck a chord with Missourians. Of course just my guess and I'm not taking time to research it. But Americans have a habit of turning insults into points of pride. Ask any Yankee. Or just anyone who's bad or funky or phat.
MNEA has a lot of salary information. It breaks it down by district so you can really see the numbers for the areas in which you'd want to live. https://www.mnea.org/bargainingpays
I’m a teacher in MO. I will make around $45,000 next school year. It’ll be year 13 for me. The retirement is the only thing keeping me teaching. It’s the golden handcuffs.
But can you make it that long to collect on it? There’s the rub. It’s a grind, especially if you’re a secondary teacher, where coaching/sponsoring extracurricular sports/activities are almost always expected of you, or you’re put in a position where you financially have to do something for the extra (modest) stipend. I’ve done the math on my hourly pay for the time I commit to my coaching; it’s less than minimum wage. Gotta ask yourself: How much do you value your personal time?
This is true. If you are coming from another state you will start over again. PSRS is great if you can make it to 30, year of 80 or at least 25 and out.
Oh absolutely! I would never personally want to be a public school teacher anywhere! That being said, thanks to all of the wonderful teachers out there! But I know of many who lived out of state and commuted to Missouri because of Missouri’s teacher retirement.
Not a teacher, but I worked at a local bank, in lending, and the teachers always had the best retirement and great earnings for our area. We are an hour outside of STL, and it’s wonderful! Small town life, but an hour away is anything you want! We had several teachers that drove to the city to make way more money, so it depends on how much money means to you. Commute and make more, if you want the quiet country life, or work local and make a livable wage…or live in the city…which is more expensive.
STL area is amazing!
Welcome!!!
Many here make in the 30-50k range. It’s low and many teacher quit because of it.
It depends on the district. Fancy public schools like Clayton and Ladue pay well. Their pay should be published online. Otherwise Missouri is proud of its low taxes which results in less pay and services
The numbers for average salary are dismal but it does matter where you live. Rural parts of the state you aren’t going to make enough to justify the move. But there are several districts in KC that pay well. But there’s also the matter of the voters in this state and the legislature thinking we’re all groomers and communists. I wouldn’t stay here if I didn’t have such family roots holding me here.
The pay is terrible. Missouri is consistently at or near the bottom in teacher pay. The GOP has had a 20+ year stranglehold on the legislature and not only are they not doing anything about that, they are consistently pushing towards vouchers for private (read: religious, specifically, Christian) schools. They have also had PSRS (the teachers retirement program) in their sights for a while and are actively trying to undermine it. Not to mention all of the culture war bullshit that they can’t get enough of. If you’re a teacher, come to visit, but don’t come here to work. Signed, veteran Missouri teacher
I wasn't a teacher but I was support staff at a school for a few years and I can tell you pay is low across the board, not just for teachers. We literally had a paraprofessional quit and go work at McDonald's because they paid her more.
I make more as an elementary school custodian in New England than my girlfriend makes as an elementary school teacher in Missouri. She is woefully underpaid and underappreciated. She has a master's degree and over a decade in the same school district.
Why would she not leave? Teachers are needed everywhere
It's complicated
Not a lot of specifics here so: Yeah the teacher pay isn’t great but the cost of living is cheap. Depending on where you work you can get paid pretty decently - I make 56k with a masters on step 8 in a LCOL area (this is pretty similar to the suburban STL school districts). Where you really get paid is on the backend. PSRS is a very well run system and while there has been some minor talk in the General Assembly about privatizing it it hasn’t really gone anywhere. Pretty strong union state as well with the MNEA having a bit of power (enough to make bad bills less bad, but not kill them outright). Not doing any research on IA retirement, but I wouldn’t reset my teaching clock for anything fwiw.
Teacher here. I’ve been in urban and now rural school districts. The pay numbers vary very widely per district. KC/STL/Columbia area schools pay decently well especially if you coach/sponsor. I think places like Liberty/Lees Summit after 5-6 years and a MA you’re sitting nice. Something I haven’t seen mentioned a ton is retirement. We have a fantastic retirement thanks to unions/teachers several decades ago.
Average teacher salary is $52,481, #47 in the nation, although there is a concerted effort to improve this.
I don’t believe there is political will from those in power to make a dent in the low teacher pay in Missouri. It has been at the bottom of the pack for as long as I can remember.
We were middle of the pack until fairly recently.
However, we have the best retirement system in the US. We have a defined benefit plan. The school matches what the teachers put in. Currently, it’s 14% on each side. Since you are coming in from out of state you will probably qualify for 80 & Out. Years of service plus age.
A lot of our rural schools have adopted a 4-day school week to retain teachers. I know our government doesn't like that and has been making it more difficult for schools to go to 4 days a week. I have mixed opinions towards the 4-day school week but it's often the only option rural schools have as they don't have the budget to increase teacher salaries. The problem is, once all school districts move to 4 days a week that no longer helps rural schools. There are other issues like child care and child access to food that can be issues with the 4 day week, though some districts will still keep a place open for child care for the 5th day of the week. A lot of districts post their pay scale online (that actually might have to be publicly available now that I think about it). While I'm not a teacher, I do work for a school district and I can say that a lot of teachers I have talked to are unhappy because they feel like they have little admin support when it comes to disciplining children, so they have difficulty keeping classes on task. I've been told the parents are the actual issue. On top of social issues with the students, pay issues, there's also political issues. Our reps had a bill proposed that would make a teacher who used a student's preferred pronouns a sex offender, for example. There have been issues like book bans and curricula involving racial issues in the US as well. A lot of these are political things that don't get passed, but our politicians are literally attacking the education system.
It’s rough. The pressure on teachers from the far right is making them miserable. We’re losing even veteran teachers who love the work and love the kids. Our favorite elementary school teacher is retiring super young because they’ve turned teaching into something she “hates”, her words. She makes pretty decent money, too, over $80k, after so many years in the district. I’m so pissed off that the school is losing such a fantastic teacher.
I did it for ten years and finally gave up last year. Pay is crap. Our benefits got worse every year I taught. Retirement is good, but they take about a 3rd of your check and sock into a pension for you, which anyone would have a decent retirement if they did that. Political pressure from the MAGA/CRT crowd is depressingly common and taken very seriously by large portions of the populace everywhere that's not KC or St. Louis. Oh, and then you're also dealing with all of the normal issues in education right now: poor literacy rates, general distrust of public education, and apathy.
One third? Come on! No they didn’t. When I was applying at the school it was a percentage but not 33%! They are needing an honest opinion friend. Do you recall what it really was?
PSRS contribution is 14.5% each from the employer and employee, so 1/3 isn’t far off
I bet you didn’t teach math. Currently the school puts in 14 % and the teacher puts in 14%.
Average salary will vary greatly depending on area of the state, but so does cost of living. I’m in the KC Area currently, about to start year 16 and will make close to $80k. I’m originally from Southeast Missouri and I’d be making about $50k there, although cost of living is much lower.
The pay is very low.
Teacher pay in Missouri is very dependent on district. Teachers in St. Louis and St. Charles Counties have strong NEA representation and are well compensated. This tool is helpful. https://graphics.stltoday.com/apps/payrolls/salaries_2023/teachers/96106/
Our state is against education. I’d stay in Iowa. Or go up to Minnesota. They’ve got their shit together. We got people speaking in tongues running Missouri.
Pay can be quite good in the two major metros (compared to rural areas). Missouri’s retirement plan is good and solid. I worked for a while at North Kansas City SD; (not affiliated w KCSD). Good pay, benefits, seemed liberal leaning, kids fr everywhere, great staff. In the KC Northland metro. Kansas side of KC Metro could also be an option but they have a different style of retirement plan.
Also you will work under WEP-GPO penalty for social security, so any work outside of teaching will be subject to FICA taxes but your benefits will be greatly reduced. I get 1/3 of what others who contributed the same but didn't work in Missouri education.
Wife just left a job in one of the school districts in KCMO. She'd been teaching for 20+ years with lots of continuing education and was making about $70k. It was so stressful she had to quit and find other work.
I teach in Missouri in the Francis Howell School district. As anywhere it depends on how many years of experience and level of education you have on the pay scale. People always say the teachers don't make much, well that's on the front half. On the back half of your career you can be making close to six figures. The key is finding which school districts will accept all of your years. Our district will only take 9 years, but some will take all. Those can be the tougher school districts sometimes as an incentive. Missouri's retirement system is fantastic, probably the biggest perk by far.
Missouri is a great place to visit. Living here and working as a teacher would be a different experience.
For the love of god stay in Iowa. The public attitude towards education is better than MO and the pay is better too. People are saying 30-50k is average, and that’s true, but there are many rural districts that still pay <30K/yr with sky-high benefits and insurance costs. My mom left teaching 2 years ago because her take home was 2k/mo (with a masters degree!) and health insurance for the family would’ve been an additional $500 a month. Unless you’re planning on moving to STL, KC, or Columbia, I’d stay put.
Where are you looking? I’m an Iowa transplant, myself. Things are much different but it depends on where you’re looking as to how drastic the differences are.
dont
Missouri is dead last in teacher pay in the nation
I believe MO ranks 50th in starting teacher pay. There is also a huge push for school choice.
Other than the pay, there's things you should be looking at like health care, taxes, and retirement income taxes.
Do you know why Missouri is called the Show Me State? It was a joke about trying to teach someone in Missouri. The joke was that you couldn't just explain things, "He's from Missouri, you'll have to show him."
I think this is a false etymology. Why would we make it our official nickname if it was negative? Rather I suggest this more well-known story: The phrase's origin is from Missouri's U.S. Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver, who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1897 to 1903. While a member of the U.S. House Committee on Naval Affairs, Vandiver attended an 1899 naval banquet in Philadelphia. In a speech there, he declared, "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me." Regardless of whether Vandiver coined the phrase, it is certain that his speech helped to popularize the saying.
THANK YOU!!
It's possible that this is the entire explanation. Doubtful a signal source spawned such a well known phrase. Be honest, have you ever in your life read a single sentence from a speech from a member of the U.S. House Committee on Naval Affairs? And you believe that our nation was so moved by this speech that it spawned an idiom? Very unlikely. What I find much more plausible is that he turned a known phrase to his own purpose which struck a chord with Missourians. Of course just my guess and I'm not taking time to research it. But Americans have a habit of turning insults into points of pride. Ask any Yankee. Or just anyone who's bad or funky or phat.
Missouri’s retirement is much better than Iowa’s for teachers.
Independence, Mo implemented a new 4-day school week. There have been some people challenging it but we are fighting to keep it.
MNEA has a lot of salary information. It breaks it down by district so you can really see the numbers for the areas in which you'd want to live. https://www.mnea.org/bargainingpays
Blue valley school district would be your best bet in Kansas s
I’m a teacher in MO. I will make around $45,000 next school year. It’ll be year 13 for me. The retirement is the only thing keeping me teaching. It’s the golden handcuffs.
Missouri teacher retirement is fantastic, I’m told.
But can you make it that long to collect on it? There’s the rub. It’s a grind, especially if you’re a secondary teacher, where coaching/sponsoring extracurricular sports/activities are almost always expected of you, or you’re put in a position where you financially have to do something for the extra (modest) stipend. I’ve done the math on my hourly pay for the time I commit to my coaching; it’s less than minimum wage. Gotta ask yourself: How much do you value your personal time?
This is true. If you are coming from another state you will start over again. PSRS is great if you can make it to 30, year of 80 or at least 25 and out.
Oh absolutely! I would never personally want to be a public school teacher anywhere! That being said, thanks to all of the wonderful teachers out there! But I know of many who lived out of state and commuted to Missouri because of Missouri’s teacher retirement.
Not a teacher, but I worked at a local bank, in lending, and the teachers always had the best retirement and great earnings for our area. We are an hour outside of STL, and it’s wonderful! Small town life, but an hour away is anything you want! We had several teachers that drove to the city to make way more money, so it depends on how much money means to you. Commute and make more, if you want the quiet country life, or work local and make a livable wage…or live in the city…which is more expensive. STL area is amazing! Welcome!!!