Category Archives: Salary

Let’s pay Idaho lawmakers like 1st year teachers

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Idaho lawmakers have a pretty good gig going for them in terms of their compensation for a part-time gig.  In fact, the current payout for the 2020 year is $18,415, plus health insurance and PERSI (Idaho’s pension system).

Last year, lawmakers were at their posts inside the State Capitol Building for just 74 days. That equates to $248.85 per day. Not bad huh? And last year went longer than most.

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It Doesn’t Have to be This Way: Inside Idaho Teachers’ Shopping Carts

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As you do your grocery shopping this week, take a stroll over to the school supply section.  It is easy to the spot the teachers over there.  They usually don’t have any kids with them, but their shopping carts are filled with pencils, paper, and markers up to the limit set for the sale of each item allowed by the store.

These are the same teachers that make up Idaho’s working poor and have little to no disposable income.  But yet, here they are buying in bulk during the sales so that they will have the materials they need for their classrooms. Continue reading →

Idaho’s teachers are the new working poor

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Levi B Cavener

Idaho delayed implementation of raising base salary for Gem State educators to $40,000 this year.  Instead, Governor Little lobbied to raise it to only $38,500 with a promise to reaching the $40,000 benchmark next year.

And although much has been made of increasing base salaries of Idaho’s teachers through the tiered licensure initiative, recent work by the Idaho Education Association showed that when adjusted for inflation, Idaho’s teachers have actually lost 6.9% of their compensation when adjusted for inflation in comparison to ten years ago.  We are losing ground, not gaining it.  

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