Detroit named one of best cities to be a teacher

In the latest of a string of random, attention-grabbing national rankings, Detroit has been named one of the top cities in the U.S. to be a teacher – leaving some in the profession scratching their heads.

A New York-based research and analytics company called Value Penguin said Detroit is the third best large city (with a population of more than 500,000) in the U.S. for teachers, behind San Diego and Oakland, Calif. Of 30 cities of various sizes, Detroit was sixth overall.

The rankings were based on salary, cost of living, the number of teaching jobs in a city and "location quotient," which measures the concentration of teachers in an area as a percentage of all occupations.

The data came from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, said Andrew Pentis, an associate editor at Value Penguin.

Detroit Public Schools teacher Tracy Arneau's first reaction to Detroit's high rank? Laughter.

"I'm not sure how that could be," she said, "when so many teachers don't have supplies, (and with) the environment in terms of financial compensation and the proposed health care changes."

Arneau said there are plenty of important factors that impact teachers in Detroit that the rankings didn't consider — such as large class sizes, safety concerns and the uncertainty many feel over the governor's proposed education reforms. Detroit Public Schools has been run by an emergency manager for more than six years.

Pentis said the rankings were focused more on data than the "human element."

"It can be seen as limited in scope because again, we are only looking at certain metrics instead of boots on the ground," Pentis said.

Value Penguin sought feedback from teachers using an online sourcing service, Pentis said. Quotes from a handful of teachers appear along with the rankings online, but none is from Detroit.

Steve Conn, a teacher at Western International High School and former president of the city's teachers union, called Detroit's ranking "totally absurd."

There were two other Michigan cities on the Top 30 list: Warren ranked No. 10 and Kalamazoo No. 11.

Earlier this year, DPS emergency manager Darnell Earley proposed steep increases in health care costs for district employees. Salary step increases for teachers have been frozen since 2012.

Value Penguin puts the average salary for a teacher in Detroit at $54,290.

According to the state budget office, the average salary for a teacher in Detroit Public Schools in 2013-14 was $62,112. Statewide, the average teacher salary was $62,169, according to the Michigan Department of Education.

Arneau said she loves teaching despite some of the challenges.

"It's almost like a calling, to be a teacher," she said. "I really did this because I wanted to make a difference."

Other national rankings have put Detroit in the spotlight in recent months: Playboy said Detroit is America's least sexy city, and a report by the American College of Sports Medicine said metro Detroit ranks near the bottom in a list of the country's fittest cities.

Contact staff writer Ann Zaniewski at 313-222-6594 or azaniewski@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AnnZaniewski.