We all know teacher salaries have declined in real dollars— but by how much?

 I compared the salary of a beginning Berkeley teacher in 2004 (step 1, column 1), the year I started, with the salary for a beginning Berkeley teacher in 2004.  I used Step one, Column one since so few teachers will reach the bottom row, and because it shows most clearly what is being offered to a new teacher. 

Analysis:

1. From consumer price index, goods costing $100.00 in 2004 would cost $162.48 in 2022. (Note that we’ve had very high inflation in 2023, not yet accounted for in the 62% increase through 2022.)

2. In Alameda County, median home prices went from $495,000 in 2004 to $1,130,000 in 2022. So assuming that rent is more-or-less in line with home prices, $1000 in rent in 2004 would be $2283 in 2022. (Yes, some people have rent control, or bought houses decades ago, but remember that we’re comparing 1st year teachers in 2004 to 1st year teachers 2022.)

3. Assuming that a teacher’s household was paying 1/3 of its income for housing, the combined increase in cost of living is a ratio of 1.84 ((2*1.6248 + 2.283)/3 = 1.84): you would need to earn 1.84 times as much in 2022 as in 2004.

4. Up through there, the math applies for all Bay Area districts: any district can use 1.84 as the amount by which salaries would have had to grow just to keep new teachers’ standard of living comparable over these 18 years.

5. Now you’ll need to get your district’s salary schedule. It’s probably on your union’s web site, or  you can search for it  (e.g. bft berkeley salary schedule)

6. For Berkeley, row 1 column 1 has risen to $49,584. That’s 1.465 times 2004’s — but we’d need 1.84 times 2004’s to adjust for inflation, which would be $62,280.32. So teachers would need a 25.6% raise to catch up.

7. We’ve not yet included health insurance! In Berkeley, the district covered Kaiser completely until 2004. Now, a teacher with partner and children pays $1050/month, or $12,600/year. Teacher + partner pay $10,200. Teacher alone pays $5000. So: $62,280.32 + $12,600 = $74,480.32. To get there, a 1st year teacher with a family would need a raise of 51%! Teacher + partner, 46%; Teacher alone, 36%.

8. Also, as a result of the market crash of a dozen years ago, we teachers are still helping to bail out the billionaires: we pay approximately 10% of our earnings to CalSTRS, up from 8% before. Our union dues have also gone up as a percentage of earnings, but I haven’t yet ascertained by how much.

Conclusion: A beginning teacher in Berkeley would need a 53% raise (or 48%, 38%for teacher + partner, teacher alone, respectively) to match the compensation of Berkeley teachers in 2005.

Salaries: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/fd/cs/  

Prices:   https://www.in2013dollars.com/San-Francisco-California/price-inflation

Dan Plonsey, BFT retired