Salaries are up just over 5% for teachers in school districts and public charters across the state compared to the 2024-25 school year.

The state minimum salary requirement is $50,252 for the 2025-26 school year, "a significant increase for some districts that were paying as low as $41,500," according to a Jan. 5 Idaho Education News article.

The Coeur d'Alene School District, which employs 903 teachers, is one of the largest districts in the state. According to data from the Idaho Department of Education analyzed by Idaho Education News, Coeur d'Alene's average teacher salary is $67,467, ranking third-highest among Idaho's 10 largest districts and charter schools.

"While we are proud that our district has prioritized our budget to rank third in Idaho for average teacher pay, we must look at that ranking in context," Superintendent Shon Hocker said Friday. "Being a leader in Idaho is a step in the right direction, but it is not the finish line.”

Coeur d'Alene collaboratively works to provide annual salary increases for its educators, said Stefany Bales, the district's executive director of communications and community relations.

"Our teachers, principals and support staff make it possible for us to fulfill our promise of being a place for every student, and we prioritize compensating them as well as we can in a high-cost community like Coeur d’Alene," Bales said.

Coeur d'Alene's average compensation continues to rise modestly year over year as its retention rate remains strong.

"That said, keeping pace with the region’s rapidly increasing cost of living is an ongoing challenge, especially as our budget tightens," Bales said. "We do lose some educators to nearby states that offer significantly higher pay. Still, we work hard to remain competitive and retain these talented professionals."

Currently, 86% of the district's $117.9 million budget is invested in employee salaries, underscoring Coeur d'Alene's commitment to its workforce. However, state budgets that reduce or hold educator pay flat make this challenge even more difficult.

“When we look beyond our state borders, the reality is that Idaho teachers, on average, rank 34th in the nation in earnings and significantly trail our neighbors in Washington, Oregon and Wyoming sometimes by tens of thousands of dollars," Hocker said.

He said he doesn't think Coeur d'Alene's teachers are compensated "well" in the true sense of the word.

"They are compensated competitively for Idaho, but that does not necessarily mean they are sufficiently compensated," Hocker said. "Until our salaries fully reflect the professional expertise our educators bring to the classroom, and the rising cost of living they experience in this area, our work is not done. We will continue to push for better funding and better pay for our staff, because being 'better than most' is not the same as being 'good enough' for our staff and students."

Teacher wages have been on the rise for the past several years, except in the 2020-21 school year, when the full-time average base salary plus extra pay dipped to $51,817 from $52,875 the previous school year. The most significant increase occurred in the 2023-24 school year, when their average salary rose $5,151 to $61,516. It resulted in a 9.1% increase over the previous school year's average of $56,365.

Average salaries are up to $67,126 in the Post Falls School District, which employs 295 teachers.

"We gave everyone a minimum 2%, but many received a much greater percentage due to the state-mandated minimums and a new certified salary schedule," Post Falls Superintendent Dena Naccarato said.

She said Post Falls is proud of its compensation package, which includes a four-day school week that affords students and families a more stable workforce without sacrificing student achievement.

"We are awaiting the results of this year's legislative session, so it is too early to comment on additional compensation," Naccarato said. "The vast majority of K-12 public funding comes from the state, and compensation and benefits are negotiated annually."

Salaries and benefits equate to 88% of Post Falls' $86.56 million operational budget.

"Post Falls is extremely conservative and only asks voters for what we need," Naccarato said. "We have one of the lowest levy rates in the state. For the past two years, our students have been No. 1 for large districts in K-3 literacy for both proficiency and growth."

In the Lakeland Joint School District, average salaries are up to $66,139. Superintendent Rusty Taylor said the district increased teacher wages by an average of 3.37%. Lakeland employs about 282 certificated staff members, including counselors, nurses and others.

"At this point, we would like to do step increases for certified staff, and all other remaining staff," Taylor said. "We are obviously required to meet the state-mandated minimums based on the career ladder for certified staff."

Factors considered when calculating average teacher pay include the number of educators, seniority and where they are on the career ladder.

The local education agency with the state's highest average pay of $97,423 is Kootenai Bridge Academy, where all six teachers are at the top of the pay scale because of their level of experience. Principal Charles Kenna told Idaho Education News that the district typically hires veteran teachers, but hiring just one early-career educator would drastically lower the average.

Average 2025-26 teacher salaries for other area LEAs:

• Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy: $80,061
• Elevate Academy North: $65,547
• Hayden Canyon Charter: $59,730
• Kootenai School District: $67,712
• Kootenai Classical Academy: $55,026
• North Idaho Stem Charter Academy: $72,437
• Plummer-Worley School District: $61,318 

    Hocker
  

    Naccarato
  

    Taylor