The average U.S. teacher made $59,660 in 2016-17, reports the National Education Association in its annual ranking of the states. That’s expected to rise to $60,483 in 2017-18. Teachers earned the most in New York ($81,902), California ($79,128), and Massachusetts ($78,100) and the least in Mississippi ($42,925), Oklahoma ($45,292) and West Virginia  ($45,555). Arizona teachers march at the Capitol in Phoenix. Photo: Ross D. Franklin/AP Demands for higher teacher pay have spa

Collective bargaining doesn’t improve teacher pay, according to a new study, reports Madeline Will on Ed Week. Thirty-three states passed mandatory collective bargaining laws since the 1960s. Those states do typically have higher teacher salaries and higher per-pupil education spending, but they already did so “well before the emergence of collective bargaining rights or modern teacher unions,” the study found. States offered collective-bargaining rights to weaken public-sect

The statewide teacher strike in West Virginia was just the beginning, predicts Steven Greenhouse in the New York Times. Oklahoma teachers, who earn even less than West Virginia teachers, could be the next to walk out. The U.S. Supreme Court “is expected to rule that requiring government employees to pay union fees violates their First Amendment rights,” notes Greenhouse, referring to the Janus case. If public-sector unions lose members, money and clout, “then teachers and oth