PODCAST:
Aug. 20, 2026 ~ Dr. Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of Detroit Public Schools Community District, joins Ryan Ermanni to discuss the district’s Perfect Attendance Program, how prepared they are for the start of the year, and the state of education in Michigan.
DETROIT ~ Dr. Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of Detroit Public Schools Community District, shared how teacher salaries improve teacher pay with WJR.
WJR’s Ryan Ermanni asked him about a new study conducted by the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC) at Michigan State University, which determined that when adjusted for inflation, the average teacher salary fell by 29% between 1995 and 2025, the largest decline of any state by a wide margin. The salary agreement between the school district and the Detroit Federation of Teachers increased starting pay from $55,000 to $57,400 for those with bachelor’s degrees, according to Chalkbeat Detroit. The highest possible salary for teachers with a master’s degree is $96,500 in 2026-27 and $100,100 in 2027-28.
Vitti added that outside of special education, the district has only about a dozen vacancies, with 3,000 teachers hired. He blamed state and nationwide teacher shortages on low pay.
“You have to invest in salaries if you want to recruit and retain teachers,” he told WJR. “It’s like any other business model. You have to invest in your people.”
The MSU study found that the average Michigan teacher’s pay fell from $100,064 to $71,023 in 2025 dollars, with Michigan teachers earning more than the national average for decades before this decline.
“Sometimes we become too political and too ideological about what we want to see happen in schools, and we lose sight into what makes sense for kids and how do we empower teachers to work with those students as professionals,” Vitti said. “It’s a combination of pay and some of the ideological wars that’s leading people not to enter the profession and to leave early.”
