MANY teachers are now poorer in real terms than they were in 1990, America’s largest teaching union said last week.

Pay rose just 3 per cent from 1990-2001, according to the National Education Association. Meanwhile, inflation-adjusted earnings actually declined across more than half of US states.

“US teachers did not reap the rewards of increased investment in education in the 1990s,” said Reg Weaver, the NEA’s vice-president.

The average teacher earned $43,335 - just over pound;30,000 - last year. Teachers in New Jersey, Connecticut, California and New York topped the salary scale, earning more than $52,000 on average.

But in cash-strapped North Dakota, the second lowest-paying state where teachers received an average of just $30,891 last year, uncompetitive wages have left one in four teaching positions unfilled.

The staff shortage is set to become even more acute with one-third of the state’s 9,000 teachers due to retire within 10 years, said Gloria Lokken, president of the North Dakota Education Association.

Jane Fung, a teacher at El Sereno elementary school in inner-city Los Angeles, said low wages were leaving a hole in the teaching workforce between new recruits and veterans.

“The middle group doesn’t exist - after 10 years people drop out, as they take on mortgages and other mid-life costs,” Mr Fung said.

The outlook is bleak, said Kathy Christie, vice - president of the Education Commission of the States, as the recession hits the tax used by state governments to fund schools.

Earlier last week, the National Association of Elementary School Principals reported that elementary and middle school headteachers are worse off this year than last.

Heads’ earnings rose less than 1 per cent to about $73,000 and $78,000 in elementary and middle schools respectively, marking the lowest annual increase in a decade.

Experts said stagnant wages with increased responsibilities, new policies holding schools accountable for poor exam results, and diminished powers were leading to a crisis in recruitment for the top posts.

“There used to be 50 to 60 people contesting every job - now there are three to five and some of these aren’t properly qualified,” said June Million, spokeswoman for the principals association.