TEACHER INFLATION-ADJUSTED PAY, UNIONIZATION AND POLITICAL AFFILIATION

Miles Smayling
Minnesota State University, Mankato
ABSTRACT
Inflation adjusted pay for American teachers has remained relatively flat since 1969. The biggest increase in real earnings has occurred during Republican administrations. When Democrats held the White House, teachers’ real pay has either dropped or has remained generally unchanged. Nevertheless, educator labor unions, such as the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) have consistently chosen to fund the campaigns of Democratic presidential candidates. Looking at the data in greater detail reveals that during this time period, unionized teachers did not tend to benefit more from Democratic administrations, nor were they hurt less during Republicans ones, than their nonunion counterparts. For unionized teachers, big determinants of individual pay tended to be experience, holding a master’s degree and average spending per student. For non-union teachers, only the average spending variable seemed to matter. These patterns appear to hold under both Republican and Democratic presidents.