Senator Bernie Sanders
The Pay Teachers Act, co-sponsored by eight Democratic senators including Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, would establish the first federal mandate for teacher salaries and represents the most ambitious federal intervention in educator compensation in decades.
"Just four hedge fund managers on Wall Street make more money in a single year than every kindergarten teacher in America combined—over 120,000 teachers," Sanders said. "No public school teacher in America should make less than $60,000 a year."
The legislation comes as schools nationwide face unprecedented staffing shortages, with nearly 200,000 teaching positions either vacant or filled by underqualified educators. According to the bill's findings, 38% of teachers nationwide earn less than $60,000 annually, with starting teachers averaging $44,530.
Maria Gonzalez, a third-grade teacher from Arizona who testified at the town hall, said she drives for Uber on weekends and tutors after school to pay rent.
"My students ask why I look tired. How do I tell them their teacher can't afford to live in the community where she teaches?"
The crisis extends beyond low pay. Twenty-one percent of elementary and middle school teachers' families rely on public assistance programs including Medicaid, food stamps, and the Earned Income Tax Credit, according to a University of California, Berkeley study cited in the legislation. Additionally, 44% of public school teachers quit within five years, and 17% worked multiple jobs during the 2020-2021 school year.
