Competitive starting salaries and meaningful salary growth are both critical to draw our best and brightest into the profession and keep great teachers in the classroom long term. NOTE: These ranges are reflective of today’s (2022) competitive wages, and should be regularly re-examined.

Currently, about half of Utah teachers — those who started teaching before July 2011 — have much richer retirement benefits than teachers who began teaching after July 2011. Adjusting salary increases in consideration of these differing benefits, for example by giving a smaller increase to those with richer benefits and a bigger increase to those with less valuable benefits, we can correct the discrepancy moving forward. This also reduces the costs of salary increases. In the end, every teacher would still get a meaningful pay increase, every teacher would still get the benefits they’ve been promised, and the compensation disparity between teachers would be no longer exist. (See FAQs for more details.)

Higher salaries will drive more young people into the profession, increasing competition and pushing Utah’s universities to be more selective and competitive. There will be more than enough graduating teaching majors to fill all open teaching positions, and districts will be able to be more selective in their hiring, leading to more effective teachers.

Higher pay will also entice more experienced teachers to remain in the profession. Greater financial stability will ease external stress for many teachers and eliminate the need for a second job, making them more effective and innovative in the classroom. Increased competition will also drive teachers to become more effective. In addition, it will be easier to replace ineffective teachers because there will be a pool of well-trained teachers ready to replace them.

Competitive salaries will change the social optics of teaching, and teaching will become a more respected profession. This higher cultural esteem will lead young people to engage more seriously in their education. Additionally, the social atmosphere and national attention around higher teacher salaries will make students feel like they are part of something significant. They will engage, and outcomes will improve.

Effective mentorship requires that mentors have the time to observe new teachers as well as to prepare and provide training and support. Mentors for new teachers should either be full-time or teach only part time so that they have time to mentor effectively. Mentors should be experienced, highly skilled teachers, and should receive a substantial pay raise for becoming a mentor, making mentorship a career step that teachers can aspire to. Where possible, we should also consider allowing new teachers to teach a lighter course load in order to minimize the risk of burnout and provide time to observe master teachers.

USBE’s Education Induction Guidebook articulates the core ideals of teacher induction in Utah.

We don’t want the great teachers who are experienced enough to be effective mentors to leave the classroom permanently. By mentoring part time or only for limited durations, we can help keep great teachers in the classroom.

Rigorous induction programs will help new teachers be more effective from the start of their careers and reduce attrition. Additionally, mentoring will become an opportunity for career advancement without removing great teachers from the classroom, improving retention among experienced teachers. Teachers who work as mentors will also improve their pedagogical skills themselves. Reduced early career burnout as well as a more dynamic career path will also make the profession more attractive and competitive.

There is not a shortage of work that could be done to support other teachers and students, and willing and capable teachers should have the option to take on that work — and be paid for it. This could include everything from summer teaching to peer mentorship to peer leadership roles to professional development and more.

Importantly, taking on additional responsibilities should include a salary increase (i.e., an increase that also affects retirement benefits), not simply a stipend.

These may not necessarily be additional costs beyond the overall salary increases, but they might be folded into overall salary increases depending on the needs and opportunities within each district or charter school.

Teachers who want to earn even higher salaries will have a pathway to do so without leaving the classroom, leading to improved retention. These teachers will become more effective because of the additional time they spend teaching, preparing lessons, or training. These extended contracts will also open up more opportunities for mentorship, peer-leadership, and professional development. Further, this range of options offers teachers greater autonomy, which will lead to higher morale, less turnover, and more effective teaching. We will also attract more people to the profession who are looking for a year-round job with year-round pay.

Targeting scholarships to underprivileged students will pave the way for a more diverse teacher workforce and, in turn, help increase high school graduation and college enrollment and completion rates among students who are less likely to finish post-secondary education.

Teachers who enter the profession without first having received a degree in teaching are much more likely to leave the profession. Scholarships for experienced professionals interested in becoming teachers could facilitate them receiving more formal training before entering the classroom.

$45 million/year would provides half-tuition scholarships for all of Utah’s teaching majors or full-tuition scholarships for half of Utah’s teaching majors.

Scholarships will reduce the potential for student debt and attract more of Utah’s brightest students from a wide range of ethnic, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds. This will lead directly to improved student outcomes not only among diverse student populations but all children in Utah.

Schools should create more dynamic and effective career pathways by increasing teacher leader positions with varied responsibilities and pay, such as consulting teachers, model teachers, department chairs with evaluation roles, and more. These kinds of positions will help veteran teachers remain in the profession by providing a way to advance without having to leave the classroom for administration. More dynamic career pathways also create systems for more effective mentorship, collaboration, evaluation, and support.

Similar to stronger mentorship systems, diverse career pathways should be built around keeping great teachers in the classroom as much as possible, provide a structure where experienced and effective teachers can support their peers, and provide adequate time so that growth in responsibilities does not just mean added responsibilities beyond a full teaching load.

Costs for more diverse career pathways will vary depending on local implementation, and could potentially be built into an increased compensation growth curve.

As a state and as communities, we should find ways to encourage and facilitate greater family engagement in education. Support at home will not only help students perform better, but will lighten teachers’ burdens, helping those teachers become more effective and making the profession more attractive.

Costs are unknown at this time.

With lower rates of teacher attrition and more teachers entering the profession, school staffing will not be limited by the number of qualified teachers available for any position. Schools and districts should take advantage of this flexibility and work to ensure class sizes are appropriate for effective instruction. This may not necessarily mean a single class-size goal. Instead, schools and districts should make class and staffing decisions based on subject areas, grade level, or other concerns.

Costs for reducing class sizes are difficult to assess on a statewide level. Some schools may be able to reduce class sizes within the additional funding for teacher salaries, while others may need to hire more teachers or even create new classroom space. Extrapolations from one district’s analysis, however, suggest that reducing average class sizes across the state by five students could cost as much as $250 million.

Schools and districts should work to ensure there are enough aides, counselors, clerical staff, mental health professionals, nurses, social workers or other professionals to provide the services students and teachers need. Support professionals not only help student outcomes directly by addressing student needs—academic or otherwise—they also support teachers by assisting with teaching, helping students with emotional needs so teachers don’t have to, or by providing direct support to teachers.

Costs for these support professionals are varied.