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After Hearing Directly From Struggling Educators, Sanders Proposes Bill to Raise Teacher Pay
"It's a fundamental injustice that the very people we entrust with our children's education and well-being are often paid so little that they have to work second or third jobs," said one teacher.
Jul 24, 2025
After hearing from hundreds of public school educators and advocates at a town hall on chronically low teacher pay on Thursday, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced legislation to ensure all educators make at least $60,000 per year and benefit from other federal investments.
Currently, about a third of public school K-12 teachers earn less than $60,000 per year, and about 1 in 6 take on extra jobs during the school year to help make ends meet—including teachers who have years of experience.
Sanders (I-Vt.) held a town hall in Washington, D.C. Thursday, hearing from teachers about their experiences with what he called "America's teacher pay crisis."
Billie Helean, a first grade teacher and president of her local teachers union in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, asked the Democratic lawmakers who joined educators for the town hall to "consider June," one of her colleagues.
"After working all day with kindergartners, she'd rush to her second job and barely see her family," said Helean. "It's a fundamental injustice that the very people we entrust with our children's education and well-being are often paid so little that they have to work second or third jobs just to keep their heads above water."
Carole Gauronskas, a special needs educator and vice president of the Florida Education Association, described how she and her husband struggled to keep food on the table after he lost his job as an engineer.
"After working morning care, afternoon care, summer school and a second job at Home Depot, and babysitting most of the summer, I barely made $29,000," Gauronskas said. "Take away the health insurance and the deductibles... and I took home less than $16,000 per year."
"I was the 'one medical emergency or car emergency away from losing everything,'" she added. "This bill will be life-altering for hundreds of thousands of paraprofessionals."
Along with ensuring all teachers earn a minimum of $60,000 per year, the Pay Teachers Act would require districts to give educators raises throughout their career and provide them with at least $1,000 per year to pay for classroom supply expenses.
According to the National Education Association (NEA), U.S. teachers spend between $500 and $750, on average, for school supplies annually.
The bill would also raise pay for paraprofessionals and educational support staff to at least $45,000 per year; currently, about 35% of these educators make less than $25,000 per year.
The Pay Teachers Act would "significantly increase federal investments in teachers and public schools, including tripling Title I-A funding and funding for rural education programs, diversifying and expanding the teacher pipeline, and strengthening leadership and advancement opportunities for educators," said Sanders.
The senator noted that the town hall was held weeks after President Donald Trump signed the massive Republican budget bill into law—handing out a $900 billion tax cut to large corporations and a $1 trillion tax cut to the wealthiest 1% of households while slashing $300 billion in education funding.
"Across the country, most of us across race, place, and background want the same thing—strong public schools where every student can thrive and strong communities that support them. In order to attract and retain the passionate, qualified educators that inspire our students, give them the one-on-one support, and do everything in their power to help each student succeed, we need to pay teachers like the professionals they are. America's educators applaud Sen. Bernie Sanders for introducing the Pay Teachers Act," said NEA vice president Princess Moss. "We urge senators to support educators and co-sponsor this commonsense legislation that invests in our students, educators, and public schools."
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'Pay Them What They Deserve': 1 in 6 Teachers Work a Second Job
Teachers with many years of experience are just as likely to take on extra jobs as those who are just starting out, data shows.
Jul 24, 2025
As U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders prepared to hold his latest event amplifying teachers' demands for fair pay on Thursday, national data revealed that public school educators are far more likely than people in other professions to take on a second job—including during the academic year while they're juggling lesson plans and other teaching responsibilities.
According to the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES), 17% of public elementary and secondary school teachers—about 1 in 6—have second jobs during the school year, while 16% work in nonschool settings during the summer months.
Across the U.S. economy, just 4.6% of all U.S. workers had multiple jobs at a time in 2020-21, the latest school year for which data is available regarding teachers who take on extra jobs.
The numbers during the 2020-21 school year, which was upended by the coronavirus pandemic, were consistent with those reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the NCES in previous years, according to the Pew Research Center, which reported on the data.
As Sanders (I-Vt.) noted earlier this week when he announced a town hall he is holding Thursday with more than 100 teachers and educational leaders, 40% of teachers are also compensated for extra work they do within their school systems, like leading extracurricular or other activities.
"Today, four hedge fund managers on Wall Street earn more in a year than every kindergarten teacher in America combined," said the senator, a longtime advocate for education and economic justice. "Teachers: Join us for a town hall... to discuss the enormously important issue of raising teacher pay and saving public education."
The town hall is set to take place in Washington, D.C. with the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, where Sanders is the ranking member, at 12:30 pm Eastern time. It will be available via livestream on Sanders' social media accounts.
"We need the best education system in the world, and that means we need the best teachers," said Sanders ahead of the event. "To get the best teachers, we need to pay them what they deserve."
"Today, four hedge fund managers on Wall Street earn more in a year than every kindergarten teacher in America combined."
Pew reported that while younger and less experienced teachers are more likely to hold nonteaching jobs during the summer months, teachers with the least amount of experience are about as likely as teachers who have been working for many years to take on extra jobs during the school year.
A 2023 Pew poll found that 51% of public school K-12 teachers reported they were not very or not at all satisfied with their pay, and another survey that same year showed 74% of U.S. adults believed teachers should be paid more—including close to 40% who said they should be paid a lot more.
The town hall is being held days after several school districts and teachers unions filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its freezing of funds for programs for low-income students, students who are learning English in school, after-school programs, and teacher development.
The plaintiffs argue the withholding of the funds violates the Impoundment Control Act, which bars presidents from stopping the disbursement of funds that have been appropriated by Congress, and warn that the funding freeze could force school districts to lay off teachers and staff and reduce programming.
"From day one, the Trump administration has attacked public education," said American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, who is set to speak at Sanders' town hall. "We won't let this administration defund our kids' futures."
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Amid Trump Attacks on Education, Sanders to Hold Town Hall on Teacher Pay Crisis
"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," said the senator.
Jul 22, 2025
With the Trump administration continuing to withhold billions of dollars from the nation's public schools—threatening teacher training programs and other crucial funding for school districts—U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday announced an upcoming town hall where he will hear directly from educators about how low wages as well as "disinvestment" in schools are creating a crisis in education.
"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," said Sanders (I-Vt.) as he announced a town hall that will be hosted Thursday by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, where he serves as the ranking member.
Sanders has long been an advocate for public school teachers, and counted them among his top supporters during his 2020 presidential campaign.
More than 100 educators are expected to be in attendance at the town hall, along with American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten and National Education Association vice president Princess Moss. Sanders plans to speak directly with many of them about how teachers are experiencing high levels of burnout.
"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."
Nearly 1 in 8 teaching jobs is currently vacant or held by a teacher who is not fully certified, while about one-third of public school educators make less than $60,000 per year. That's about $20,000 less than the annual salary a single adult needs to live in the country's most affordable state—West Virginia—according to a recent analysis by SmartAsset, and far less than what one would need to live in many other states.
Sanders noted Tuesday that in 36 states, teachers' wages are so low that an educator with a family of four qualifies for public housing, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and other public assistance.
"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," said Sanders.
The senator is holding the town hall, which will be livestreamed on Sanders' social media accounts, days after President Donald Trump's administration announced it would release part of the $6.8 billion in education funding it has withheld from states, after being sued by several states over the funds, which had already been appropriated by Congress.
While the withheld funds don't directly impact teacher salaries, advocates have warned that Trump's attacks on public education will put a strain on schools and already-strained educators.
"If we are going to have the best public school system in the world," said Sanders, "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."
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