Statewide median teacher salaries in the region increased by more than 10 percent from 2008-09 to 2012-13, according to a report released by the conservative think-tank Empire Center for Public Policy.

Meanwhile, the report released Monday notes that while student enrollment, especially in upstate schools, have largely decreased, staff reductions haven’t kept up with the rate at which students have left. According to the study, more than 76,000 students have left New York state schools from 2008-09, while districts have cut 25,350 positions.

In Rensselaer County, the median top-earning teachers work in the Berlin and Troy school districts in recent years, according to a study by the Empire Center for Public Policy.

Meanwhile, the Lansingburgh Central School District has been the lowest paid in the county, with the most recent median salary at $47,977 in the 2011-2012 school year. The highest paid teachers that year were in Rensselaer, with a median salary of $63,496. The prior school year, the district with the median highest paid teachers were in the East Greenbush district.

From 2009 to 2011, salaries jumped in East Greenbush from $59,040 to $66,340.

After reviewing the study, East Greenbush teachers’ union president Sean Crall noted that many school districts’ salaries in the Capital District were lower than the median in other regions. He noted that there are a lot of responsibilities and qualifications for teachers like a masters degree and the needs of students increasing over the years. “That means more time and time is money,” he said. “From a financial standpoint, being a teacher is a losing proposition. I’m glad some region’s salaries are going up.”

Troy City School District had the highest median salary in the county in the 2006-2007 school year at $59,451 then Berlin Central School District had the highest in 2007 to 2008. Troy had the highest once again in 2008-2009 at $59,451 and 2009-2010 at $60,450.

The findings are part of a report titled “What’s driving K-12 school costs?”and blames increased educations costs on automatic pay increases in teacher contracts and what it calls “relatively high levels of staffing” compared to student enrollment.

The study shows the median annual salary for teachers in New York state in the 2012-13 school year was $72,990. Median salaries were significantly lower in regions such as the Southern Tier, but median pay in Long Island schools topped $100,000 for the first time, and median salaries in mid-Hudson schools was $96,700.

The median salary is the number that separates the lower half of a pay scale from the higher salaries.

The Empire Center report claimed increasing school costs were not “inevitable” or “unavoidable,” despite the economic recession in 2008. It noted teacher compensation costs are largely due to pay raises and criticized school districts for not reducing staff levels more.

However, Carl Korn, a spokesman for the New York State United Teachers, a 600,000-member teachers union in the state, criticized the Empire Center report, saying it failed to reflect an 8 percent increase in inflation since 2008.

Most Capital Region school districts fall below the statewide median. The highest median salary for the 2012-13 was in the Albany City School District ($74,551), while the median for the South Colonie Central School District was $74,376. Those were the only Capital Region schools to come in higher than the statewide median. The lowest, at $44,877, was Putnam Central School District in Washington County.

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