WalletHub released today a comprehensive list of the country's best and worst states for teachers, taking into account 13 different metrics to arrive at its findings. While Massachusetts, Virginia and Minnesota rounded out the top best states for teachers, Arizona, North Carolina and West Virginia were among worst.

What makes a good teaching job? According to Madhabi Chatterji, an expert in education at Columbia University who weighed in on the study's findings for WalletHub, a good teaching job is one where "teachers are free to act as trained professionals, with access to necessary resources and tools to best serve the needs of their students."

In summation she said, teachers must feel safe, respected, trusted, and overall treated as professionals with competitive pay and clear growth and security to match.

The WalletHub study looked at average starting salary, median annual salary, pupil-to-teacher ratio, public school spending per student, and average commute time among other metrics to determine the best and worst states in its study.

In the second-worst state, North Carolina, it ranks 40th in average teacher salary, 12th worst in worst median annual salary and 49th in 10-year change in teacher salaries. This information, coupled with being just average in categories such as pupil-to-student ratios makes the state, according to the study, a particularly bad state to teach in.  

In the second-best state, on the other hand, Virginia is said to provide teachers with good job opportunity, income growth potential, and a competitive average starting salary.

Education World would like to hear from teachers across the country: Do you agree with your state's ranking on WalletHub's 2015 list? Users with access: Please take our poll to let fellow educators know your thoughts.

Read the full list here.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

09/28/2015