• L

17 countries where teachers

 can earn the highest

 starting salary

While the US is one of the developed countries that pays public high school teachers the most, the country is experiencing a teacher shortage.

Movieclips / YouTube

• The school year has just started for many high school students across the globe.
• The US is one of the developed countries that pays the most for public high school teachers, according to World Bank data.
• Here are the 17 countries in the world where high school teachers just starting out are best paid.

While the US is, according to World Bank data, the nation that pays high school teachers the sixth highest, according to the Learning Police Institute they're actually paying teachers less and less — to the point where the country is experiencing a teacher shortage.

Data gathered from the National Center for Education Statistics actually suggests many states in the US have seen an average of a 4.6% salary reduction since the 2009-10 school year, which could be part of the reason the country is having to outsource teachers from overseas.

These are the 17 countries where high school teachers embarking on their careers are best paid, for educators looking to emigrate.

17. France — $31,421.49

After pre-school, also known as école maternelle, the French compulsory education system is divided into three "cycles": école, collège, and lycée.

 Greg Sandoval/Business Insider

16. Portugal — $32,563.75

In Portugal, from pre-school to higher education, you can choose between a state school or a private school.

 Paulo Valdivieso / Flickr Creative Commons

15. Costa Rica — $33,519.29

All students in Costa Rica are required to wear a uniform, to lessen the economic distinctions among classmates.

Flickr/kansasphoto

14. Sweden — $36,766.81

Swedish compulsory schooling consists of four stages: förskoleklass, lågstadiet, mellanstadiet, and högstadiet.

canadastock/Shutterstock

13. Austria — $37,122.44

Austria enjoys a free and public school system, where nine years of education are mandatory.

 songme/Shutterstock

12. Finland — $37,728.28

In Finland, children don't start school until they are 7 years old.

 Flickr Creative Commons / Giuseppe Milo

11. Canada — $39,071.90

School attendance is obligatory until the age of 16 everywhere apart from Manitoba, Ontario, and New Brunswick where the mandatory age is 18.

 Shutterstock

10. The Netherlands — $39,098.02

While the teaching language in the Netherlands is Dutch, more and more schools and universities teach in English.

Norbert Reimer / Flickr Creative Commons

9. Australia — $40,762.47

In Australia there are three types of schools: government schools, Catholic schools, and independent or private schools.

 kitsada wetchasart/Shutterstock

8. Spain — $41,886.99

The financial crisis of 2008 left one in three children in poverty and, as a result, Spain has one of the highest jobless rates in Europe.

 Nathan Rupert / Flickr Creative Commons

7. Mexico — $42,816.51

Most young children in Mexico attend primary school but only 62% reached secondary school in 2011.

BorisVetshev/Shutterstock

6. United States — $43,556.76

Only half of 3-year-olds in the United States were enrolled in preschool in 2011 as opposed to nearly 90% of 3-year-olds in Europe.

 TripAdvisor/Getty

5. Denmark —$46,784.11

Danish schooling is free at all levels and there are nine years of compulsory education.

 Pocholo Calapre / Shutterstock.com

4. Norway — $47,313.23

There are a number of bilingual international schools for expat children in Norway, regularly recruiting teachers from overseas.

 Wikimedia Commons / Nik

3. Germany — $61,418.47

The majority of German children attend public schools.

 fjuengermann/Shutterstock

2. Switzerland — $69,704.74

In Switzerland there are 26 "cantons" responsible for their compulsory education system.

 Flickr Creative Commons / Yola Simon

1. Luxembourg — $79,129.67

Education in Luxembourg is trilingual, with mandatory languages being Luxembourgish, German, and French.

 Flickr Creative Commons / Andrey Filippov 安德烈