RI Ranked 10th Worst State for Teachers
GoLocalProv News Team
RI Ranked 10th Worst State for Teachers
Rhode Island ranks 46th for job opportunity and competition, and 33rd for academic work and environment.
"Most educators don’t pursue their profession for the money. Despite their critical role in shaping young minds, teachers across the U.S. are shortchanged every year. In fact, education jobs are some of the lowest-paying occupations that require a bachelor’s degree, and their salaries consistently fail to keep up with inflation," said WalletHub.
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39th – Average Starting Salary for Teachers (Adjusted for Cost of Living)
25th – Median Annual Salary for Teachers (Adjusted for Cost of Living)
28th – WalletHub “School Systems” Ranking
45th – Teachers’ Income Growth Potential
22nd – 10-Year Change in Teacher Salaries
21st – Pupil-Teacher Ratio
The Rankings
Rhode Island ranks 42nd behind Louisiana and New Mexico at 40 and 41, while ranking ahead of South Carolina and North Carolina at 43 and 44 respectively.
Hawaii is ranked as the worst state for teachers, while New Jersey was ranked as the best state for teachers.
For the full rankings, see the map below.
The Method
To identify the teacher-friendliest states in the country, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across two key dimensions, including "job opportunity and competition" and "academic and work environment."
WalletHub then evaluated the categories using 16 relevant metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with 100 indicating the best conditions for living and working as a teacher.
They then calculated the overall scores for each state and the district using the weighted average across all metrics, which was then used to put together the final ranking.
Job Opportunity & Competition - Total Points: 70
- Average Starting Salary for Teachers: Full Weight (~10.00 Points)
- Median Annual Salary for Teachers: Full Weight (~10.00 Points)
- Teachers’ Income Growth Potential: Full Weight (~10.00 Points)
- Average Teacher Pensions: Full Weight (~10.00 Points)
- Projected Teacher Demand: Full Weight (~10.00 Points)
- Public-School Enrollment Growth (Fall 2015 vs. Fall 2014): Full Weight (~10.00 Points)
- 10-Year Change in Teacher Salaries: Full Weight (~10.00 Points)
Academic & Work Environment - Total Points: 30
- WalletHub “School Systems” Ranking: Triple Weight (~9.47 Points)
- Annual Evaluation Requirement for All Teachers: Full Weight (~3.16 Points)
- Teacher Effectiveness: Full Weight (~3.16 Points)
- Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Full Weight (~3.16 Points)
- School Safety: Full Weight (~3.16 Points)
- WalletHub “Underprivileged Children” Ranking: Half Weight (~1.58 Points)
- Public-School Spending per Student: Full Weight (~3.16 Points)
- Average Commute Time: Half Weight (~1.58 Points)
- WalletHub “Working Moms” Ranking: Half Weight (~1.58 Points)
The Power List - Health and Education, 2016
Inside Man
Russell Carey - A name few outside of Brown’s campus know, but Carey is the power source at the Providence Ivy League institution.
Today, his title is Executive Vice President and he has had almost every title at Brown short of President. Carey is a 1991 graduate of Brown and has never left College Hill.
While Brown’s President Christine Paxson — who is functionally invisible in Rhode Island — is managing alumni affairs and fundraising, Carey is influencing almost everything in Rhode Island.
Top Raimondo Appointment
Nicole Alexander-Scott - MD, MPH, and rock star in the making. As Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, she is fast developing a reputation as someone in the Raimondo Administration who can get things done. Her counsel and leadership on developing a strategy on opioid addiction has been widely been lauded.
In addition, she has handled the mundane - from beach closings to food recalls - with competency. An expert in infectious disease, it may be time for her to become a strong leader on Zika.
The CEO
Ronald Machtley - Bryant University's President rightfully deserves to be on a lot of lists, but what few understand is that Machtley’s influence extends far beyond Bryant’s campus in Smithfield. Machtley could make this list as a business leader or as a political force as much as for education.
Machtley is recognized for transforming Bryant University from a financially struggling regional college to a university with a national reputation for business.
Machtley serves on Amica’s Board and the Rhode Island Foundation, and also serves on the Board of Fantex Brands.
Power Broker
Larry Purtill - While Bob Walsh gets the face time as the Executive Director in the media for the NEA of Rhode Island, NEARI President Purtill tends to be the inside man who gets things done.
The teachers' largest union is formidable, but is still reeling from the beat down it took when Gina Raimondo’s pension reform cut the benefits of teachers disproportionately over other employee groups.
Make no mistake about it - not much happens in education in Rhode Island without Purtill's sign-off.
Visionary
Mim Runey - While Rhode Islanders wait, and wait some more, for development on the 195 land, Johnson and Wale's University's Runey is watching it come to fruition, as JWU is set to open the first completed building on the former Interstate on September 1, when it will host a ribbon cutting for its John J. Bowen Center for Science and Innovation.
Under Runey, JWU continues to establish its foothold as one of the country's top schools for culinary training. Now Runey will oversee the addition of the new building on the old 195 which will house the university's School of Engineering and Design and its biology program.
In 2015, students from the School of Engineering & Design participated in the construction of the Holocaust Memorial on South Main Street, a collaboration between the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and the Holocaust Education Resource Center of Rhode Island.
A true community partner in every sense, JWU under Runey's watchful eye is expanding to an even greater presence in Providence.
Chairman of the Board
Edwin J. Santos - The former banker is Chairman of the Board of CharterCare, after having been a top executive at Citizens Bank. He has been a board leader for Crossroads, Washington Trust, Rocky Hill School -- you name it and Santos has helped to lead it.
His best work to date just might be at CharterCare, where he has helped the once fledgling hospital (Roger Williams Medical Center) into a growing hospital system.
Lion Tamer
Weber Shill - He serves as the Chief Executive Officer of University Orthopedics, or in other words, dozens and dozens of oh-so-confident docs.
Shill has a background in Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration from the Whitemore School at the University of New Hampshire. Experienced in managing medical groups, but this group is big and influential.
Boss
Timothy Babineau - President and CEO of Lifespan, Rhode Island's biggest healthcare organization, where financial challenges make the job that much more complicated.
Now, the critics (GoLocalProv included) are raising concerns about the multi- billion dollar organization's refusal to make any contribution to the City of Providence. Lifespan is like General Motors, big and hard to innovate the organization.
