March 9, 2021 The average teacher salary in Michigan was up in 2019-20 for the second year in a row, rising to $63,553. In the 2018-19 school year, the average pay was $62,170, up from $61,908 in 2017-18. But that doesn’t mean every teacher in Michigan got a pay raise, and statewide averages aren’t a very useful lens for examining the overall teacher compensation landscape in this state. For example, Liza Parkinson is on the Utica Community Schools payroll as a teacher, but her real full-time job is as president of the local teachers union. Parkinson gets paid by the district but is on a full-time release to the union, meaning she teaches no classes and instead spends all her work time on union business.