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HARRISBURG, PA (Sept. 10, 2025) — The Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) has updated a comprehensive report highlighting key facts and data on the state’s public schools, educator and support staff compensation, school district funding and enrollment, and student performance.
The report is designed to be a resource for educators, support staff, students, parents, elected leaders, community members, and the press.
“This report provides up-to-date facts and information about Pennsylvania’s public schools to help stakeholders better understand the challenges and opportunities we face,” said PSEA President Aaron Chapin. “With Pennsylvania’s 1.7 million public school students starting a brand-new school year, we hope this report will help inform everyone who cares about Pennsylvania’s public school system and wants our schools to be the best they can be.”
The report, titled “Pennsylvania Public Education by the Numbers,” can be found in full at www.psea.org/fundamentalfacts, including sources for all data.
Based on the updated facts in the report, researchers made the following key findings.
Educator Pay Has Decreased Relative to Inflation
Both Pennsylvania’s average starting educator salary and average teacher salary have declined relative to inflation over the past three decades.
The average teacher salary of $79,078 in 2024-25 is 16.6% lower than the inflation-adjusted 1995-96 average salary of $94,822.
Similarly, the average starting educator salary in 2024-25 is $51,814, 12% lower than the inflation-adjusted 1995-96 average starting salary of $58,905.
PSEA has been a strong advocate for raising Pennsylvania’s minimum teacher salary to $60,000 a year and paying school support staff a living wage of at least $20 an hour. Neighboring Maryland is implementing a law that will bring the minimum annual salary for all teachers in that state to $60,000 by July 1, 2026.
“Pennsylvania public schools are strong because of the quality of our educators and support staff,” Chapin said. “If we want to attract and retain qualified professionals to teach and serve Pennsylvania students, salaries and wages need to reflect the value of their work.”
Pa. Students’ Test Scores Among Best in Nation
Despite a drop in post-pandemic test scores overall, test scores on the 2024 Nation’s Report Card from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) indicate that Pennsylvania’s public schools continue to be among the best in the nation.
Only three states (Florida, Massachusetts, and Wyoming) have statistically significant higher fourth-grade math scores than Pennsylvania, and only four states (Colorado, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Wyoming) have statistically significant higher fourth-grade reading scores.
Among eighth-graders, six states (Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, South Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin) have statistically significant higher math scores, while only four (Colorado, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New Jersey) have statistically significant higher reading scores.
Pennsylvania is also a leader in post-secondary education, with more than six out of 10 high school graduates planning to continue their education after high school. Pennsylvania ranks 17th in the nation in the percentage of full-time college students who complete their bachelor’s degrees.
Basic Education Funding Up from Historic Low
The basic education subsidy was 40% of total school district expenditures in 2024-25, a significant improvement from a historic low of 30.4% in 2020-21. At its peak in 1973-74, the basic education subsidy was 55% as a share of total school district expenditures.
The estimated basic education subsidy for all school districts was $8.16 billion in 2024-25, an increase of 3.6% ($284 million). The subsidy increased by 7.8% ($567 million) in 2023-24, 11.4% ($750 million) in 2022-23, and 4.8% ($300 million) in 2021-22.
Greater state investment in public schools is particularly needed given Pennsylvania’s relatively high rate of children living in poverty.
In 2023, 15% of Pennsylvania children between the ages of 6 and 17 lived in families with incomes below the federal poverty level. The commonwealth ranked 17th highest among U.S. states in the percentage of children living in poverty.
“It is critically important that we continue to dedicate state funding to closing adequacy gaps and ensuring that every child can succeed at school, regardless of their ZIP codes,” Chapin said.
“Right now, lawmakers and the governor are working to resolve an overdue state budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year. We call on them to stick with a multi-year plan to fix our broken public school funding system and to reject any proposals that would shift state funding away from our public schools to unaccountable private and religious schools.”
Chapin is a Stroudsburg Area middle school teacher and president of PSEA. An affiliate of the National Education Association, PSEA represents about 177,000 active and retired educators and school employees, aspiring educators, higher education staff, and health care workers in Pennsylvania.
