Even setting aside the ridiculous increase in gas prices, everything is more expensive today than it was 10 years ago. What you would give up over that 10 year period if your salary decreased by $5,000?

That's the question the average Michigan teacher has been asking themselves for the past decade, according to an annual NEA report on teacher salary.

From 1995-96 to 2005-06, Michigan teachers lost 9.1% of their buying power due to minimal raises that didn't keep pace with inflation. That's second worst in the country behind Alaska (and the weather isn't all that much better here these days!). According to that same study, the average Michigan teacher salary is $54,739 – so a 9% cut is about $5,000.

Mix into that the attacks on school employee health and retirement benefits that were part of this year's budget "deal."  Add onto that the money coming out of teachers' pockets to pay for textbooks and school supplies and professional development that the state ought to be paying for (see a great story recently published in the Detroit News about textbook shortages).

Nobody got into teaching to get rich, but it ought to at least provide a comparable living to other professions that require similar advanced education and training, such as the engineering and health care fields. These real financial losses make it even harder to recruit and retain the best and brightest teachers for Michigan's students. 

Putting a highly qualified and highly compensated teacher in every classroom is the best investment we can make for the future of Michigan's children. The more one-on-one attention students get from these dedicated professionals, the more they will achieve in preparing themselves for 21st Century jobs.