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teacher pay
Sanders Warns 'Absurd' Low Pay of Teachers Fueling Public Education Crisis
"We cannot continue to run our public education system on the backs of saints and martyrs," an elementary school teacher testified to a Senate committee.
Jun 20, 2024
A pair of public school teachers warned a key Senate committee on Thursday that low educator pay in the United States is fueling staff shortages across the country and damaging the country's education system, which is also under sustained attack from right-wing lawmakers who want to slash federal investments in schools and abolish the Department of Education.
"The number one reason teachers leave the profession is the pay," John Arthur, an elementary school teacher in Holladay, Utah, told members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee during a hearing convened by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
"The number one reason parents don't want their children to become teachers is the pay," Arthur added. "So the number one solution to addressing the issues we face must be increasing teacher salaries."
"The situation has become so absurd that four—one, two, three, four—hedge fund managers on Wall Street made more money last year than every kindergarten teacher in America." —Sen. Bernie Sanders
In written testimony submitted to the Senate panel, Arthur argued that low teacher pay, chronic lack of resources, and extreme stress exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic are at the core of staffing crises that are impacting an overwhelming majority of U.S. school districts, posing a threat to the entire public education system.
"We cannot sustain a healthy, effective public school system when so few parents want their kids to join me and my friends in the classroom," Arthur's testimony reads. "We cannot continue to run our public education system on the backs of saints and martyrs. We must raise wages to the level at which we can successfully recruit and retain the talent we need to effectively educate all children, regardless of zip code."
A teacher at Philadelphia's third-largest elementary school, Gemayel Keyes, echoed Arthur, noting during Thursday's hearing that low pay and substantial student loan debt have forced him to work a part-time job and denied him "the American dream of homeownership."
"We must invest in our teachers but also in our paraprofessionals," said Keyes. "If we continue to underinvest in the pay and working conditions and don't match the responsibilities and job expectations, the paraprofessionals shortage will rise, the same way the pipeline of teachers has declined. I must also acknowledge and fully recognize that my job as a teacher would be impossible to do without my paraprofessional staff."
Watch the full hearing:
According to the latest data, the average starting teacher salary in the U.S. is $44,530, and nearly 80% of the nation's school districts pay a starting salary below $50,000. Teachers have a starting salary below $40,000 per year in around 30% of U.S. school districts.
The national average teacher salary is $69,544, and significant recent pay increases in some states have not been enough to keep up with inflation.
Just 15% of K-12 public school teachers are extremely or very satisfied with their pay, according to a Pew survey released earlier this year, and 68% say their job is "overwhelming."
"Student absenteeism is at an all-time high and teacher shortages are at crisis levels in most states," William Kirwan, vice chair of Maryland’s Accountability and Implementation Board, told the Senate panel. "Our students do not perform well on international assessments. Alarm bells should be ringing across the country."
Sanders, the lead sponsor of legislation that would set the minimum annual salary for U.S. public school teachers at $60,000, said during his opening remarks at Thursday's hearing that "for decades, public school teachers have been overworked, underpaid, understaffed, and, maybe most importantly, underappreciated."
The senator added that while there are "many reasons" why U.S. public school teachers are leaving their jobs each year at double the rate of peer nations, "one of the primary reasons is the extremely low pay teachers receive."
"Incredibly, the average public school teacher in America is making nearly $100 a week less than she or he did 28 years ago after adjusting for inflation," said Sanders. "Meanwhile, because of lack of resources and tight school budgets, about 80% of public school teachers are forced to spend their own money on classroom supplies without being reimbursed."
"The situation has become so absurd that four—one, two, three, four—hedge fund managers on Wall Street made more money last year than every kindergarten teacher in America," Sanders continued. "Public school teachers should not be forced to work two or three jobs to make ends meet. They should not be forced to be on food stamps."
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The Poverty of Education When We Make Our Teachers Poor
In the richest country in the world, we can do so much better. What will it take to reverse the trend?
Nov 24, 2023
Teacher shortages have been reported in all fifty states, and 86 percent of public schools are hard pressed to fill vacant teaching positions. Low pay is often cited as a cause of the shortages. Let’s put that in context.
On average, teacher pay in the United States is nearly 25 percent less than what other college graduates receive, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). If you are a teacher in New Hampshire, as I am, your paycheck is nearly 30 percent less than other college graduates. Let that sink in.
People who go into teaching are taking on the same level of debt as other college graduates (or more), yet they are receiving nowhere near the same financial benefits. The typical U.S. graduate with a four year degree walked away with their diploma and $29,417 in debt in 2022. In my home state, the average debt for a bachelor’s degree topped the nation at an astounding $39,928.
Undoubtedly, this economic reality of the teaching profession is having an impact on teacher prep programs, which are seeing a drastic reduction in the number of enrollees. This in turn means fewer new teachers entering the profession. When the cost of a degree is paired with the “teacher pay penalty,” to use EPI’s terminology, the math is undeniable: politicians are shortchanging teachers.
In my more than a decade of working in public schools, I can attest to the fact that teachers are selfless. But we can only carry so much for so long. We’re only human.
Teachers are being paid roughly seventy cents on the dollar for their labor. If most other jobs had this kind of wage disparity during a labor shortage, employers would increase wages to attract qualified professionals into the field. Instead, what we’re seeing are rightwing activists using fear tactics, book bans targeting Black and LGBTQ+ histories, and direct threats to the livelihood of teachers in an attempt to erode confidence in public schools. These attacks have a high price: the financial future of educators.
In my more than a decade of working in public schools, I can attest to the fact that teachers are selfless. But we can only carry so much for so long. We’re only human. It’s time we exclaim with a collective and unified voice: Pay teachers more! Local, state and federal governments must invest in public educators now. We cannot afford to balance society’s books on the backs of teachers.
Fair pay and freedom to read might sound “far out” after a year that saw a record number of books banned and a record income gap between teachers and other professions.
The truth is every community in America needs to come together for our schools, our profession, and our communities now more than ever. Every student deserves a dedicated teacher and every teacher deserves fair pay for their dedication.
Educators have long been asked to carry the burden of underfunding. But the data shows that in the not so distant past, things were a bit more fair when it comes to educator pay. In 1996, the difference between teacher wages and other college grads was about $300 per week. Today, that difference is over twice that and rising.
The shrinking purchasing power of educators coincides with classroom jobs being more difficult and demanding. Every educator strives to create classrooms of compassionate care, but the day to day experiences and the broader data show that we are facing a systemic crisis when it comes to the mental health of young people. Widespread anxiety and hopelessness among students must be taken seriously and responded to with increased investment in public schools. We cannot continue to ask the schools that serve those that have the greatest needs to do so with least resources.
In the richest country in the world, we can do so much better. What will it take to reverse the trend?
We need our unions to be reinvigorated by the transformative energy and passion of classroom educators. From early educators who teach the ABCs to the high school teachers who teach calculus, we need everyone to pull together to defend our public schools, the pillar of our democratic way of life.
We must draw inspiration from our brothers and sisters across the country and find common cause with those battling inequity in other industries. We can see the gains that are rapidly being made by teachers in Los Angeles and by workers in other sectors, such as with the Writers Guild of America, the United Auto Workers, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, whose successful strikes resulted in significant pay increases and other concessions.
UAW President Shawn Fain and President Joe Biden agree that “record profits should mean record contracts.” The present economic conditions favor workers more than any time in the past two decades. States with significant budget surpluses must make significant investments in teachers and public schools. This includes states like Texas, where the $32.7 billion surplus could be used to attract and retain professional educators, a step toward redressing chronically low pay.
Public support for labor continues to be at a generational high. Seventy-five percent of the public believes that teachers are underpaid. And a majority of the public hold a favorable view of their own local educators. Now is our time. Let’s reverse the trends of widening wealth gaps.
Economic justice for educators means providing financial support to the schools that serve all students. Raises for public school educators must reflect our professional status and our contributions to community life. Educators must earn wages that match those with similar educational backgrounds and experience in other fields.
This kind of investment is something that will take political will that must be cultivated in each community with the people who know those communities the best—educators, parents, and people who see how our way of life is intricately intertwined with quality public schools.
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'Educators Are Nation Builders': Sanders Bill Would Ensure Minimum $60K Salary for Public School Teachers
"The situation has become so absurd that the top 15 hedge fund managers on Wall Street make more money in a single year than every kindergarten teacher in America combined."
Mar 09, 2023
Demanding an end to "the international embarrassment" of low teacher pay in the United States, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday introduced legislation to guarantee a minimum salary for public school educators of $60,000 per year, moving to fulfill a pledge he made during his 2020 presidential campaign.
The Vermont Independent senator called on the federal government to take accountability for chronic staffing shortages in school districts across the country, which he said is linked to the fact that "the starting pay for teachers in almost 40% of our nation's school districts is less than $40,000 a year" and that the average weekly wage of a public school teacher has gone up by just $29 in the past 30 years, adjusting for inflation.
More than half of the nation's schools are understaffed, according to the National Center on Education Statistics, and Sanders noted in a fact sheet about his proposal that "hundreds of thousands of public school teachers have to work two or three jobs during the school year to make ends meet." A recent report by the Teacher Salary Project found that 17% of educators work part-time in retail, restaurants, or in the gig economy to supplement their meager incomes.
Sanders, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, called the statistic "simply unacceptable."
"The situation has become so absurd that the top 15 hedge fund managers on Wall Street make more money in a single year than every kindergarten teacher in America combined—over 120,000 teachers," said the senator. "Wages for public school teachers are so low that in 36 states, the average public school teacher with a family of four qualifies for food stamps, public housing, and other government assistance programs. We have got to do better than that."
The Pay Teachers Act of 2023 would significantly increase investments in public education, beyond teacher salaries—tripling Title I-A funding for schools with high percentages of low-income students and funding for rural education programs; providing an additional $1 billion for the Bureau of Indian Education; and investing in grant programs to improve teacher preparation and development, among other investments.
States would be required to establish a "minimum salary for teachers" of at least $60,000 per year, with increases throughout their career, and to ensure teachers are paid "a livable and competitive annual salary" that's comparable to professionals with similar education requirements.
"Educators are nation builders," said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, which represents 1.7 educators. "They have a vital role in educating and caring for our next generation. But they are neither treated nor paid commensurate with that role. Teachers earn nearly 24% less than similarly educated professionals, and when adjusted for inflation, many [earn] less than they were making a decade ago."
"Even with their need to take second jobs, educators spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on supplies, snacks, books, and other items for students," she added. "Chairman Bernie Sanders's bill, the Pay Teachers Act, will help close the pay gap by significantly increasing federal investments in public schools and raising annual teacher salaries."
Co-sponsors of the Pay Teachers Act include Democratic Sens. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Alex Padilla of California, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Peter Welch of Vermont.
Ellen Sherratt, board president of the Teacher Salary Project, applauded the legislation and lawmakers who are"fighting for teacher salary levels that are professional."
Sanders introduced the legislation a month after holding a town hall with labor leaders and teachers from across the country regarding chronic low pay in the field, where educators talked about completing hours of work per week outside of the school day for no extra pay, purchasing snacks for low-income students, and facing barriers to working in schools that have many open teaching positions and have resorted to hiring people without teaching qualifications.
"Students of every color, background, and ZIP code deserve qualified and caring educators who are dedicated and have the resources to uncover the passions and potential of every child," said Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association (NEA), as Sanders introduced the bill Thursday. "America's schools are facing a five-alarm crisis because of the educator shortages that have been decades in the making and exacerbated by the pandemic. Together, we must recruit large numbers of diverse educators into the profession and retain qualified and experienced educators in our schools to support our students in learning recovery and thriving in today's world. To do that, we must have competitive career-based pay to recruit and retain educators."
"On behalf of the three million members of the National Education Association, I thank Chairman Sanders for introducing the Teacher Pay Act," she added. "We urge senators to support educators and cosponsor this commonsense legislation that invests in our students, educators, and public schools."
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