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(Northern Rockies News Service) Average teacher pay increased in 2023, but a new study shows it still lags far behind that of other college graduates.

Average weekly wages for teachers across the nation increased 1.7 percent last year. But it was still more than 26 percentage points below other college graduates.

Sylvia Allegretto, senior economist with the Center on Economic Policy Research, is author of the report - and said there's a vast disparity across states, with Idaho among the states falling behind.

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"The worst is in Colorado at just over 38 percent - and then Idaho, the teacher pay gap is 27.1 percent," said Allegretto. "So, not really great news, but it's not the worst in the country."

Wyoming had the smallest gap between teacher pay and other college graduates, at 9 percent. Nearly three quarters of states had gaps larger than 20 percent.

Allegretto noted that the gap for teachers has increased significantly in recent decades, from about 6 percent in 1996 to more than 26 percent in 2023.

She said this is having far-reaching effects for a profession that's one of the most important in the country.

"Are we able to retain the teachers that are already in the profession?" said Allegretto. "And how are we going to attract and retain future students of today to choose teaching as a profession?"

Allegretto said more public investment in education will be necessary to correct this issue.

"There's not going to be one way to do this," said Allegretto, "but it is definitely going to take federal, state and local government effort."