This petition seeks a permanent $20,000 CPI adjusted raise for every public school teacher in the United States paid by the Federal Government to ensure the future success of public education, students, and the country at large. 

It’s imperative that schools have access to a robust supply of high quality teachers to fill positions and support the best outcomes for students. Prior to the pandemic there was already a teacher shortage with approximately four out of five schools reporting vacancies in the 2015-2016 school year. 36.2% of schools in 2015-2016 reported that it was “very difficult” to fill vacancies, an increase from 19.7% in 2011-2012. Furthermore, individuals enrolled in a teacher preparatory program dropped by 37.8% in 2015-2016 compared with 2008-2009. Researchers cited several factors for the teacher shortage, with low pay, compared to other professionals with similar education and experience, being one of the top reasons (reference #1). 

The teacher wage gap explains a driving factor behind the teacher shortage. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) reported in 2015 that “public school teachers’ weekly wages were 17% lower than those of comparable workers - compared with just 1.8% lower in 1994” (reference #2). Furthermore, when adjusted for inflation, researchers found that pay did not increase for teachers at all from 1996 to 2018, whereas wages for other college graduates grew by over 20% in the same timeframe (reference #1). 

With the pandemic, education continues to suffer disproportionately compared with other major sectors of the economy. The EPI reports that the percentage of those employed as a teacher fell by 6.8% from Fall 2019 to Fall 2021 (reference #1). School administrators have had significant challenges staffing schools, with some positions filled by random, rotating substitute teachers or district office staff throughout the school year. Combined with declining enrollment in teacher preparatory programs, the future of public education in the United States looks dire unless there’s a plan in place to attract more individuals to teaching. That plan starts with pay parity between public school teachers and professionals in other sectors.

In 2019 Vice President Harris proposed a $13,500 raise for teachers and President Biden promised a minimum teacher salary of $60,000 on the campaign trail (references #3 & 4). Given inflation in recent years, as well as added stress during the pandemic that risks higher rates of attrition, we call on Congress to pass a bill to give every public school teacher a permanent $20,000 raise with a built in cost of living adjustment on that sum each year. Though education is largely funded by state budgets, Congress does have the power to pass such a bill using federal funds. 

Ignoring teacher salaries gambles with the livelihood of future generations. The teacher shortage is hamstringing education and all signs show that it’s going to get worse. Adequately funding education, and increasing student achievement, provides one of the largest GDP increases for economies long term (reference #5). For education to operate effectively, teacher salaries need to increase to attract talent to the sector, reduce attrition, and fill vacancies to ensure that every child in America has access to trained, credentialed, and high quality educators. 

Reference #1: https://www.epi.org/publication/solving-k-12-staffing-shortages/

Reference #2: https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-pay-gap-is-wider-than-ever-teachers-pay-continues-to-fall-further-behind-pay-of-comparable-workers/

Reference #3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E93VjP2UzkM

Reference #4: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/28/biden-teacher-pay-universal-pre-k-1479288

Reference #5: https://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/2015/08/12/education-can-boost-gdp-even-more-than-we-thought