Key Takeaways
- Washington County teachers won raises of up to $9,000, while the state contribution accounted for just $311.
- Nationally, teachers in states with collective bargaining agreements earn an average of 24% more than peers in states without them.
- Six years ago, four Utah districts started teachers below $40,000; today, after years of district-by-district bargaining and educator advocacy, no district starts below $52,000.
In Washington County, a full-time teaching job has not always been enough.
Some teachers left school at the end of the day and clocked in somewhere else. For some, it took a second job, sometimes even a third, to afford life in one of Utah’s fastest-growing communities.
On May 12, Washington County Education Association members ratified a new contract to change that.
Veteran teachers will see raises of up to $9,000 next year. Step-one teachers will see an increase of at least $4,200.
The state contributed $311. The rest was won locally.
“This increase is proof that when educators organize and work together, it pays off,” said Annette Merchant, president of WCEA.
Nearly all of the increase came directly from good-faith negotiations with school district leaders and the local school board. Washington County teachers currently start at $62,118.
“They deserve to be home with their families. That is what we worked hard for, and this year, we won,” Merchant said.
That work is playing out across Utah, wherever organized educators have a seat at the table and the collective strength to use it.
Members turn state funding into real change
Not every district in Utah operates under a formal collective bargaining agreement like Washington County. In some districts, union members “meet and confer” with administrators, a process that does not carry the binding force of a negotiated contract but still gives organized members a voice in the decisions that shape their work.
UEA President Renée Pinkney said state funding opens the door, but local public educators can determine what happens next.
“The funding that comes from the Legislature creates an opportunity,” Pinkney said. “It is our members, sitting across the table in 41 school districts, who help turn that opportunity into raises. That is what collective bargaining does, and that is why protecting it matters.”
The numbers show what organized public educators can do
Six years ago, Utah’s lowest teacher starting salary was $39,000. Four districts started teachers below $40,000. Today, no district in the state starts below $52,000.
That shift did not happen by accident.
Nationally, teachers in states with collective bargaining agreements earn an average of 24% more than peers in states without them. According to the National Education Association’s 2024-25 Teacher Salary Benchmark Report, Utah ranks in the top five states for average starting teacher pay at $57,849 and in the top 10 for average top teacher salary at $100,465.
Utah does not have a state collective bargaining law, but state law preserves the right of public employees to bargain collectively with their employers at the local level. Utah’s public educators have used that right district by district, and the results show up in salary schedules across the state.
Educator pay is not just a labor issue. It is a student issue. When public educators can afford to stay in the classroom, students benefit from experienced teachers who know their schools, their communities and the students they serve.
“Respectable pay helps keep educators in the profession,” said Carol Ramsay, a fifth grade teacher who has served on Jordan Education Association’s bargaining team. “When teachers are working second jobs just to make ends meet, burnout follows. I have seen it over 29 years in the classroom: When educators can stay, schools are more stable, teams get stronger and students benefit.”
Some union wins do not show up on a paycheck
In rural Juab County, where finding substitute teachers has long been a challenge, Juab Education Association members worked with the district to create two permanent substitute positions that now rotate among five schools.
Before the change, secondary teachers were losing prep periods to cover vacant classrooms. At the elementary level, instructional assistants were being pulled away from students who needed them.
That is happening less now.
“It has made a real difference,” said Stacy Stoker, an elementary educator and JEA president. “The benefit to students is real: more support, less disruption, and teachers who can do their jobs.”
The right to negotiate made these wins possible
Last year, HB267: Public Sector Labor Union Amendments threatened to strip Utah’s public employees of the right to bargain collectively with their employers. Twenty-one labor unions, including UEA, formed the Protect Utah Workers coalition and launched a referendum drive that collected more than 320,000 signatures in 30 days. The Legislature repealed the law before it ever reached the ballot.
That fight matters because the work is not finished.
While teacher salaries have improved in Utah, public educators are still stretching paychecks, working second jobs and making less than other college graduates in professional careers.
A respectable salary keeps experienced teachers in classrooms and gives students the steady, high-quality public schools they deserve.
The gains are local, but the lesson is statewide: when public educators have a real voice at the table, they can turn that voice into raises, planning time and the conditions students need to learn.
