While we’re on the topic of labor union benefits, Mike Antonucci at EIA is “in possession of” staff salary figures from NEA affiliates, which are usually closely-guarded secrets. As a public service, he’s released some information from the internal survey that NEA collects each year. The survey doesn’t include salary and benefits for union presidents, vice presidents, treasurers, union executives, or managers.  Antonucci notes that “the data are divided into two categories: professional staff (UniServ directors, communications, etc.) and support staff (secretaries, administrative assistants, etc.).”

New Jersey, once again, leads the pack:

The highest professional staff salaries belong to the New Jersey Education Association, which average$100,018. Connecticut professional staffers come in second at $93,115, and California is third with $92,010. Bringing up the rear is South Carolina at $42,091. At $50,764, NEA-Alaska had the highest paid support staffers. Professional staffers of the California Teachers Association are at the top in total compensation, thanks to a retirement plan that contributes almost $20,000 per employee per year. CTA’s UniServ directors average $135,434 in salary plus benefits, one of 18 state affiliates in which the professional staff compensation package reaches six figures. 

Average salaries can fluctuate wildly from year to year, especially in small affiliates, when highly paid experienced staffers retire and are replaced by lower-paid new employees. Fortunately, the NEA survey also provides average salary data for the last 10 years, which allows for some leveling out of these spikes. The highest average professional salary increase last year came from the Virginia Education Association. UniServ directors there made $68,660, an 18.5 percent increase from 1999. Professionals saw double-digit average pay hikes in Texas, North Carolina and Nevada. The Nevada State Education Association also had the largest average pay increase since 1991– 66.0 percent. Support staffers in North Carolina saw a 27.1 percent average pay raise last year, while Delaware, California and New Hampshire also saw double-digit increases. Since 1991, Nevada support staffers have seen their average pay more than double — a 100.4 percent increase to $35,328.