What makes SC a horrible state for teachers? New study ranks us 49th

Your child’s beloved teachers may be dedicated and inspiring, but they may also be underpaid and worried about their safety — especially in South Carolina — according to a new study by WalletHub.

The credit score advisory website has ranked the places it says are best and worst to be a teacher. South Carolina came in near the bottom, ranking 49th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The study analyzed metrics such as salaries, pupil-teacher ratios and commute times, among others.

Besides teacher pay, safety concerns — the percentage of teachers who reported being threatened with injury by a student — were a big part of South Carolina’s rankings.

Overall, New York was deemed the best place to be a teacher, followed by New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

At the bottom of the list was Arizona, followed by Hawaii, South Carolina, Mississippi and Florida.

This news reinforces worries among state officials and education experts that South Carolina’s teacher shortage could worsen over the next few years as changes to the state’s retirement program kick in.

The State newspaper reported last week that more than 6,000 public school teachers didn’t return to their classrooms in South Carolina last year, and that the number of education majors is shrinking.

Five teachers shared their experiences on Thursday with a panel of educators, legislators and other officials who have been tasked with figuring out how school districts can retain teachers. They cited the lack of time for planning and disrespectful students among the struggles in the classroom.

This story was originally published September 25, 2017 at 3:52 PM with the headline "What makes SC a horrible state for teachers? New study ranks us 49th."