Supplemental Teacher Pay in Missouri: Who, What, Where, and When

By J. Cameron Anglum & Anita Manion

This report details Missouri teachers’ supplemental (non-base) pay and the Career Ladder program for teachers.

Key Points

• Missouri’s state government increased its investment in teacher salaries over the pandemic and in the following years, with its increase of the state’s minimum salary garnering the greatest attention. 

• Supplemental, non-base pay is an oft-overlooked component of teacher compensation; four in ten Missouri teachers earned an average of $5,097 in supplemental pay in 2022–23 in addition to any compensation they may have received through alternative out-of-school channels (e.g., additional summer employment).

• Restarted in 2022–23, Missouri’s Career Ladder program provides teachers up to $5,000 in additional pay to pursue additional work and training. Teachers worked 1.68 million additional hours through the Career Ladder program from 2022–23 to 2023–24, primarily through tutoring, coaching, extracurricular supervision, and additional professional development. 

• However, wide disparities in supplemental pay persist across teacher race and gender, and school geography and level. On average, male teachers earned 2.6 times that of women, white teachers earned 2.1 times that of non-white teachers, town and rural teachers earned 3.4 times that of urban teachers, and high school teachers earned 2.6 times more than elementary and middle school teachers.