Alabama drops ranks, is far from one of the best states for teachers

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Things aren’t looking good for Alabama educators — the state is moving in the wrong direction when it comes to the “best and worst states for teachers.”

According to a new study of 2016’s Best & Worst States for Teachers from personal finance website WalletHub, Alabama ranks 34th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

That’s down four spots from last year’s ranking when the state ranked 30th on the list.

The ranking reportedly measures the states against 16 criteria the WalletHub staff feels makes a state a good place for a teacher to be employed in a public elementary or secondary-school classroom.

“In order to help educators find the best teaching opportunities in the country and draw attention to the states needing improvement in this regard, WalletHub analyzed the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 16 key metrics, ranging from the average starting salary, to pupil-to-teacher ratio, to school safety,” the report read.

Alabama scored 48.35 points, coming in 34th overall. The state ranked 29th for job opportunities and competition, and number 24 for academic and work environment.

According to the National Education Association (NEA) statistics, about a fifth of all newly minted public-school teachers leave their positions before the end of their first year — nearly half of them never last more than five. Many teachers, especially novices, transfer to other schools or abandon the profession altogether “as the result of feeling overwhelmed, ineffective, and unsupported,” according to ASCD. It’s therefore no surprise the high turnover rate among K–12 teachers has been likened to a revolving door.

Hawaii is ranked as the worst state for teachers, while New Jersey was ranked as the best.

Here’s how Alabama compares to the other states:

Source: WalletHub

4 COMMENTS

  1. Merely the easily predictable results of the Alabama GOP’s ongoing war against teachers and the education profession.

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