EVERY STUDENT WELCOME NETWORK MEMBER'S FORUM

A new report from the Economic Policy Institute once again places Colorado at the top of their list of the “teacher pay penalty”—the growing pay gap between public school teachers and their college-educated peers. Colorado’s nation-high 40.7% gap (up from 31% in 2022) means that teaching in Colorado requires a significant greater financial sacrifice than the national average (25.2%). It dwarfs that of our neighbors to the north and south Wyoming (13.1%) and New Mexico (17.4%).

The bottom line: If Colorado wants to attract and retain great teachers, we’ll need to make an intentional decision to make teaching a liveable profession.

https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-pay-penalty-remained-high-in-2025-teachers-and-students-nationwide-are-still-paying-the-price-of-decades-of-neglect/