Average and Other Teachers

• According to the StateUniversity website, physical education teachers can expect pay comparable to what teachers in other subjects earn. Most teachers make between $50,000 to $60,000, according to 2009 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, because of differences in experience, geography, district size and other factors like grade level, teachers may make anywhere from $28,960 to $101,350. Pay for physical education teachers may fall anywhere within this range.
  
  

Starting Average

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that teachers in the lowest 10th percentile of earners make between $28,960 and $34,600, depending on the grade level at which the teacher works. However, many states have laws that connect minimum salaries to education level and the district's approved minimum salary. For example, they might specify that someone with a bachelor's degree and no experience make the district minimum salary, while someone with a master's degree and no experience makes $1,000 above the district minimum. Because every district is able to set its own minimum salaries, PE teachers can start out with very different salaries even if they have the same qualifications.
  
  

Pay by Level

• Pay for teachers goes up as the level taught increases. For instance, all kindergarten teachers make $50,380 a year on average as of 2009, says the bureau. All elementary teachers earn $53,150, all middle school teachers make $53,550 and all secondary teachers have salaries of $55,150. At the post-secondary level, PE teachers alone have an average yearly salary of $60,580. PE teachers thus can make more if they teach older students.
  
  

Considerations

• With many teachers reaching retirement, jobs prospects for new teachers are available. However, many schools are facing budget cuts, which means that PE teachers, if hired, may have to do more without an increase in pay. For instance, instead of just teaching PE courses, a PE teacher may also have to coach a high school football team. Another consideration is the fact that, given the epidemic of obesity in the United States, PE teachers are in a better position to get and retain a teaching job than in the past. They can use professional research that has proven that healthy children tend to do better academically to avoid termination. This makes a difference in earnings, because earnings often increase annually or are more stable once a teacher reaches tenure. It also can be a point in salary negotiation for initial jobs, as the PE teacher can make a case for the value of the job -- healthy students may turn out better test scores, which directly connect to facility funding.