Giving Compass' Take:

• State district decisions, stagnant or very little increase in teacher pay, and the simultaneous rise in health care and retirement costs are all contributing factors to the teacher strikes. 

• What more can administrators be doing to help better support teachers? How can philanthropists become involved when public funding is not sufficient?

• Read the data behind the decline in teacher salaries.

In an article and podcast, The Hechinger Report shares the story of Jennifer Vetter, who changed careers to become a special education teacher and then returned to her former career in the healthcare field because of low teacher pay in Arizona.

Vetter said after deductions for health care, pensions and taxes, she was taking home about $300 a week, and that many of her colleagues were working second and third jobs to remain in the middle class.

The issue of teacher pay is a complex one that has given rise to multiple protests in recent months. While the issue at first appears to be a matter of states simply allocating more money to teachers, it's often not so simple because of administrative decisions by district leaders.

Some states also have lower fiscal capacity and lower costs of living, which affect comparisons with other states. Overall, teacher salaries have remained stagnant or have dropped in many states over the past few years, though the reason for this may also have to do with changing teacher demographics.

Another issue is the take-home pay, a factor mentioned in The Hechinger Report's article. Rising health care benefit and pension costs account for much of this. According to an analysis by Chad Aldeman, editor of Teacherpensions.org, teachers’ pay has risen an average of 1.4% a year nationwide over the past 10 years, but health insurance costs have risen 4%, and retirement costs have risen 7.8% annually during the same period.

However, teacher pay isn't the only issue affecting teacher strikes. Some teachers feel an erosion of respect along with the erosion of pay.

School administrators can help the situation by doing what they can to reclaim the level of respect for the profession and changing school culture to a more supportive environment.

Read the full article about teacher protests by Amelia Harper at Education Dive