Union President Claims Some Teachers May Have To Sell Homes

East Lansing Education Association President Patrick Murray told the Lansing State Journal that teachers are making less money today than they were five to 10 years ago and some are ready to sell their houses because they can’t afford to live in their communities where they work. East Lansing Public Schools is in negotiations with the teachers, whose contract expired in June.

ForTheRecord says: A first-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree who started in 2006-07 at East Lansing Public Schools earned $36,670. In 2013-14, that same teacher would be making $54,254 with a bachelor's degree, about $12,150 more than inflation over those seven years. If that same teacher had earned a master’s degree in that time, the salary would increase to $57,402. Those salaries were taken from the teacher’s union contracts. The average teacher’s salary in the district was $64,721 in 2012-13, according to the Michigan Department of Education.