Retention and Salary Rate Discrepancies Among San Mateo County High School Districts

By Julietta Bisharyan

Many teachers from South San Francsico Unified School District have left to teach at higher-paying districts, whether for financial related reasons or not. Regardless, this disparity could mean the difference of $27,000 more each year for moving to a district that’s only nine miles away.

The following charts visualize the salary and benefit rates for high school teachers in San Mateo County school districts from 2004 to 2021. The rates have been adjusted for inflation. The charts also exclude La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District because of its proportionally smaller size than the other five districts in the county.

Minimum Salary for San Mateo County High School Teachers

(Adjusted for inflation)

This chart looks at the minimum salary a high school teacher at the districts Cabrillo Unified, Jefferson Union High, San Mateo Union High, Sequoia Union High, and South San Francisco Unified can make. Districts in more affluent areas, such as San Mateo and Sequoia in Redwood City, pay more while the other three districts make roughly around the same. By moving to San Mateo Union High, a new teacher working at Cabrillo Unified could be making at least $18,387 more in 2021.

Maximum Salary for San Mateo County High School Teachers

(Adjusted for inflation)

This chart looks at the maximum salary a high school teacher at these districts could make. Here, the gap between the higher and lower paying districts widen as a teacher at Jefferson Union High could be making $42,182 more each year by teaching at San Mateo Union High in 2021.

This is partially due to the fact that districts like San Mateo Union High and Sequoia Union High have more steps in their salary schedules that allow teachers to make more money by earning additional education credits and degrees.

Cost of Benefits for San Mateo County High School Teachers

(Adjusted for inflation)

This chart visualizes the cost that employees must pay out of pocket for their benefits, such as health insurance, dental, and vision, at each district. The districts that pay higher salaries, like San Mateo Union High, contribute almost entirely for the cost of benefits.

South San Francisco Unified, on the other hand, covers only part of the cost of benefits, meaning that teachers had to have paid upwards of $1,500 out of pocket in 2014. Many teachers opt to leave the district for better health insurance benefits alone.

Employment Duration for High School Teachers in Two San Mateo County Districts

These last two charts look at the employment duration of teachers employed between 2013 and 2022 at two of the lower paying districts in San Mateo County.

While South San Francisco pays higher salaries, Jefferson had up until recently contributed more for the cost of benefits. This may explain why most teachers at South San Francisco leave within ten years of their employment. Jefferson Union High, on the other hand, is more spread out with most teachers leaving after ten years of employment. Jefferson does, however, have peaks of almost ten teachers leaving within 15 years of working there.