Where SD Ranks Among Best and Worst States for Teachers

I'd like to think that all teachers choose their profession because they love kids and have an altruistic desire to alter our path into the future to a more positive trajectory by shaping young minds and hearts. The reason I would like to believe that is because most teachers are all of that, and more!

I have had some of the most wonderfully dedicated teachers you could possibly imagine. However, I also had the misfortune to encounter a couple of nuns in elementary school, who not only hated kids but by all appearances disliked teaching in general, and, anything remotely smacking of positivity or future success.

Again, I'd like to believe this situation is rare. And if there ever was a time for teachers to be anxious and cranky, that time is now. In March of this year teachers across this country had to make a quick switch to online learning and many continue in that vein, others have returned to classrooms, and some are doing a combination of in-person and online teaching.

While some states pay their teachers a fair living wage, many do not. This leads to a "revolving door of teacher turnover" in many places.

The latest study from WalletHub aims to help teachers find the "best opportunities and teaching environments."

To do that, they looked at everything from highest and lowest annual salaries, teacher turnover, pupil-teacher ratios, public school spending, teacher pensions, tenure protections, and more.

With all the statistics distilled down, the best state for teachers was, Washington, and the worst was New Hampshire. South Dakota came in 35th, but I still say we have some of the best, most dedicated teachers in the country right here.

Source: WalletHub