Teacher salaries at independent and private schools

Comparing apples to oranges

What do teachers make at independent and private schools in Canada and the United States? That's a very generalized question, and we can only offer a very generalized answer. The exact answer depends largely on experience, as do all questions of salary - in public school teaching and any other industry. Other factors also come into play as well, notably the location of the school as well as the exact kind of independent or private school. The National Association of Independent Schools NAIS lists its own broad list of contingencies: "total years of teaching experience, the number of years employed at the current school, merit and performance, teaching load, and degrees and credits."

Finally, the question is difficult to answer because many independent schools are not in the habit of broadcasting teacher salaries. Private schools are pretty private about that kind of thing.

According to the NAIS, the median salary for all teachers at US independent schools in 2006 was $46,914. For teachers just starting out, the median salary was $32,935, while the most experienced and highest salaried had a median salary of $68,933.

This also does not account for differences among states which are also widely varied. For example, in public schools, Montana had the lowest average beginning salary in 2002-03 at $23,052, while Alaska had the highest average beginning salary at $37,401. In other words, that's a difference of more than $14,000 per year and over 60%.

There are many kinds of private schools
On top of all those variables, the phrase "private schools" is far too general a description to be helpful.

In most religious-based private schools, teachers start off lower and make less money, largely because the schools are paid for by parents of moderate income and the teachers themselves wish to teach in a school espousing that religion. In some cases, these schools may also have the reputation of being more lax with respect to certification but that situation has changed considerably in the last decade or so.

The fact that the majority of private schools are religious based skews statistics comparing private vs. public school salaries. In a Montessori school, the teacher's salary is likely to be close to or equal that of public school counterparts. The same goes for teachers in boarding schools or prep schools.

There are a wide variety of other factors that come into play. For example, private schools are more likely to institute performance-based pay - certainly than public schools. If teachers are highly qualified and perform very well in their positions, and their school or school board applies performance-based pay, they are likely to be paid better. Another factor affecting pay is the fact that some subjects are hard to staff.

Finally, Canada is very different from the US. The table below gives an indication of ratios for public school teachers based on province and years of education. (An obvious tip inferred here, prospective teachers: a grad degree doesn't hurt!) Compare what we have said above about the kind of private school and you'll have a rough indication of how much to expect:

	4 Years of Education		6 Years of Education
	Min	Max	Min	Max
Alberta	$43,653	$68,967	$48,779	$74,126
British Columbia	$37,908	$56,743	$45,506	$70,684
Saskatchewan	$38,700	$59,500	$43,570	$66,103
Manitoba	$37,948	$58,737	$42,887	$65,310
Ontario	$37,043	$62,625	$42,258	$73,472
Quebec	$36,196	$58,633	$41,982	$63,527
New Brunswick	$33,776	$52,231	$40,482	$62,292
Nova Scotia	$35,906	$57,376	$44,168	$67,978
Prince Edward Island	$30,341	$46,871	$38,480	$59,657
Newfoudland & Labrador	$34,838	$45,264	$45,280	$60,212
Yukon	$56,717	$83,428	$62,074	$90,663

Of course, we recommend contacting the individual private schools and independent schools to find out their pay scales.

Sources:
http://www.nais.org
http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2004/071504.htm
http://resource.educationcanada.com/salaries.html