A study released recently by The Empire Center found that schools in New York State during the 2012-2013 year were employing almost as many professional staffers as they did in 2000-2001, even though there were about 280,000 fewer students.

There were about 243,000 school professionals in 2000-2001. That decreased to 241,000 in 2012-2013. During that same time, enrollment dropped statewide from 2.86 million to 2.58 million.

Upstate, the number of teachers dropped by 10 percent from 81,500 to 73,500, but the number of students dropped 16 percent from 990,000 to 831,000.  

The center calculated that the median teacher salary for eight Warren County districts is $57,901 and the average for Washington County districts is $51,828.

The median salary for teachers upstate with five years of experience increased 19 percent from $41,862 to $49,222; with 10 years experience, it increased 16 percent from $53,078 to $61,313; and for teachers with 16 to 20 years experience, increased 23 percent from $64,596 to $79,183.

The report noted that during tight budgets, teachers with the least experience and the lowest paid were laid off. That raised the median salary because the teachers that were remaining were earning higher salaries.

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