New study says standardized pay for Alaska's teachers would be too expensive

If Alaska implemented a standardized salary schedule for its teachers, most rural school districts would have to pay their educators a lot more, said a new study completed for the state Legislature, Alaska Dispatch News reports.

According to the pay schedule, Anchorage should pay it teachers 10 percent more. But in Southeast Alaska’s Pelican City School District, it would mean a whopping 105 percent raise.

But ultimately, researchers advised against the pay schedule that they developed for the study. Even though it would help communities attract and retain highly-qualified teachers, it would simply cost too much, said the study by University Alaska Anchorage’s Center for Alaska Education Policy Research.