San Diego students have more crowded classrooms than the national average, a comparison of education data shows.

Nationally, there are about 15.6 students per teacher in schools, which is less than San Diego County’s current ratio of 21.

There are a number of factors at play, however.

National data can be skewed by rural areas, and there are also individual differences in schools— a niche class will likely be smaller than a large required one.


But, as the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute claims, teacher pay is a big reason why there aren’t as many teachers as there used to be.

According to a San Diego Union-Tribune analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the average wages for elementary school teachers decreased by 5 percentage points between 2005 and 2015, from $73,185 to $69,410 after they were adjusted for inflation.

Salaries for secondary educators vary by subject, but the decrease in elementary pay shows the difficulty that some districts are having in affording quality staff.

As Five Thirty Eight’s Ben Casselman notes, the recovery hasn’t quite reached the nation’s schools.