The teacher work environment is very challenging with many teachers experiencing high levels of stress, burnout and dissatisfaction based on multiple factors. This harms student achievement and results in a significant number of teachers leaving the profession. Reasons for teaching include “to make a difference in children’s lives” and to “share their love of learning and teaching.”
State-mandated minimum teacher salaries in South Carolina have increased greatly in the last few years. And the South Carolina average teacher salary continues to closely align with the southeast average. However, when inflation is taken into account, the state average salary and state minimums for higher levels of teacher experience are actually lower than they were five years earlier. Nationally, the average teacher earned 73.6 cents for every dollar that other college-graduate professionals made in 2022.