WASHINGTON, July 22 — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), will hold a town hall on Thursday with more than 100 teachers and educational leaders at the U.S. Capitol to discuss the teacher pay crisis impacting schools, students and communities.
Joining Sanders at the town hall will be Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.); Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT); Princess Moss, vice president of the National Education Association (NEA); and educators from across the country.
“It is simply unacceptable that, in the richest country in the history of the world, 40% of teachers have to work extra jobs just to make ends meet. The situation has become so absurd that four hedge fund managers on Wall Street make more money in a single year than every kindergarten teacher in America combined — nearly 120,000 teachers,” Sanders said. “We need the best education system in the world, and that means we need the best teachers. To get the best teachers, we need to pay them what they deserve.”
Today in America, nearly one in eight teaching jobs is vacant or filled by a teacher who is not fully certified. Approximately one-third of all public school teachers make less than $60,000 a year — including more than 90% of starting teachers. Hundreds of thousands of teachers have to work two or three jobs during the school year to make ends meet. Meanwhile, the average weekly wage for public school teachers has decreased by 5% over the past 30 years, adjusted for inflation. Today, 44% of public school teachers quit the profession within five years.
“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,” Sanders continued. “No teacher in America should make less than $60,000 a year. 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.”
At the town hall, Sanders will hear directly from educators about how low wages, burnout and disinvestment are affecting both teacher morale and the quality of public education.
Details
What: Save Public Education: Pay Teachers What They Deserve
Who:
When: Thursday, July 24, 12:30 p.m.
Where: Washington, D.C. Location available upon RSVP. The event will also be livestreamed on Sanders’ social media.