LANSING — Many teachers in Michigan need to work additional jobs to make ends meet.

The rising cost of health care is one major reason why teachers seek additional employment.

Repaying student loans is an additional reason, said Doug Pratt, the director of communications and public engagement at the Michigan Education Association.

“Getting a master’s degree is another expense that a lot of educators have to deal with on their own to maintain their certification,” Pratt said.

The MEA is the state’s largest union of teachers and other school support staff, like bus drivers and cafeteria workers.

About 40% of the union’s members say they need to take on a second job. Teachers and support staff seek out second jobs at similar rates, he said.

Younger teachers are more likely than older ones to work second jobs. The average starting salary for teachers in the state is $41,645 – placing 44th nationally.

Teachers are commonly depicted in the media working multiple jobs, and teaching salaries have stagnated over the past decades, said Christopher Redding, an associate professor and researcher at the University of Florida.

About 60% of teachers nationally work a second job, according to a study he co-authored and published this year.

The study used data from the National Teacher and Principal Survey, which reflects K-12 public school teachers.

Most second jobs that teachers assume relate to an additional role in the school, during the school year. Jobs outside of the school setting and working during summer breaks are less common, Redding said.

He said 10% of teachers have an additional role in the summer only, and 20% have an additional role during both the summer and the school year.

“In some ways it’s not as large as we expected,” Redding said. “There is this idea that if it’s the summer off, there’s opportunities to work, but the percentage is not as high as we might have expected there.”

The primary motivation for teachers to take on a second job is financial, although some also do it because the work can be an extension of their professional identity, he said.

Wages for public school teachers have stagnated in comparison to college graduates who chose other careers, resulting in an increasing teacher pay gap, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a research institute based in Washington, D.C.

Nationally, the pay gap reached a record high in 2024, when public school teachers earned 26.9% less than other professionals, according to the institute.

Michigan’s teaching salaries were not always as low compared to other states, said Daniel Golodner, the American Federation of Teachers archivist at Wayne State University.

The state used to pay its teachers well and consistently ranked in the top 10 nationally from the 1960s to mid-1990s, he said.

“The reason is there was a strong teacher union base that helped give teachers a voice to talk not only about better pay, but be able to have a say in the workforce where they had a chance to do shared decision-making. They were allowed to talk about what kind of evaluation should happen on them,” Golodner said.

Changes in labor law affecting union membership and collective bargaining power, the major reduction of residential property taxes to fund public schools and the expansion of taxpayer-funded charter schools had a major impact on teachers’ pay and their ability to negotiate with local school boards, he said.

The comparatively low pay in Michigan contributes to a teacher shortage as educators relocate to other states for higher pay and laws that give them a voice in the workplace, he said.

“It’s a sad state when Michigan has not come through to support their teachers the way they should be,” Golodner said. “And hopefully, we’re seeing a turnaround.”

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This story was provided by Capital News Service at Michigan State University.