HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Aug. 19, 2026) – Just how well are classroom instructors being paid in Michigan?
Teacher pay in the past 30 years, when adjusted for inflation, has dropped by 29 percent in Michigan according to a new study from Michigan State University. The MSU report claims teacher salaries in the state had peaked in 1995 at the equivalent of just over $100,000 in 2025 money, falling to just over $71,000 last year. The national average for the same time period is a decrease of 4.2 percent. The average starting salary in Michigan for a teacher is just over $43,000, nearly five-thousand-dollars under the national average.
This report comes as the current collective bargaining agreement between Holland Public Schools and the Holland Education Association is in his final year. Superintendent Nick Cassidy is confident that a new deal can be reached amicably.
There hasn’t been a work stoppage by Holland teachers since 1967, when over 200 instructors walked off of the job. This led to court action in getting them back to the classroom, and ended with the state Supreme Court ruling that, under Michigan’s Public Employment Relations Act, withholding services en masse by public employees constitutes an illegal strike.
-Michael Arney of Midwest Communications station WKZO-AM/FM contributed to this report
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