A new bill proposed in Congress would create a minimum national pay for teachers of $60,000 a year.
The bill was proposed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
“As school districts across the country report serious staffing shortages largely due to unprecedented levels of stress, burnout, and low pay, Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on Thursday introduced essential legislation to begin to address the major teacher pay crisis in America and ensure that all public school teachers earn a livable and competitive wage that is at least $60,000 a year and increases over the course of their career,” the Marj 9, 2023, news release, issued by Sanders’ office says.
“It is simply unacceptable that, in the richest country in the history of the world, many teachers are having to work two or three extra jobs just to make ends meet,” said Sanders.
“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. 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.”
Sanders noted that America ranks “29th out of 30 countries in pay for middle school teachers. If we are going to have the best public school system in the world, we have got to radically change our attitude toward education and make sure that every teacher in America receives the compensation that they deserve for the enormously important and difficult work that they do. No public school teacher in America should make less than $60,000 a year,” he wrote.
Joining Sanders on the Pay Teachers Act are Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), according to his press release.
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