IOWA State’s teacher union is hitting the airwaves from Monday to pressure lawmakers to spend $172 million to escalate teacher’s pay ranking from a dismal national 41th pay ranking to modest 25th. It amounts to about $1500 per teacher.



The radio spot which will be aired to more than 90 stations says, ‘It’s embarrassing to be from a state that says it values education, but where teacher salaries rank 41st in the nation. How much lower in the rankings do we have to sink before something is done?’

Under the plan pushed by the Iowa State Education Association, the state would spend roughly $1,500 per teacher over the next three years to raise the state’s teacher salaries to 25th in the nation.



Although that would still leave teacher pay in Iowa below the national average, it would make a “significant difference” in the state’s ability to recruit and retain new teachers, union officials said. The union also will ask for $5.7 million to boost pay for teachers at the state’s network of community colleges.