Democratic Presidential Candidates Are Promising To Raise Teacher Pay. Teachers Are Skeptical.
A raise would be great. But is it realistic?
Philadelphia public school teacher Kathryn Sundeen would love a raise. Last year, she spent about $3,000 out of pocket on her students, helping to pay for their supplies and fees associated with the debate team she coaches. But when she hears the Democrats running for president talk about giving her one, she’s suspicious.
“It feels like a superficial way of getting to the root of the problem,” said Sundeen, a 20-year classroom veteran, of the problems plaguing public education.
In the lead-up to the 2020 election, big-ticket candidates like former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.) have all made teacher pay a centerpiece of their proposed education plans.
Harris has released the most detailed plan, with an explicit explanation of how she would work to use both federal and state dollars to give the average teacher a raise of $13,500. Biden has said he will triple funding for Title I ― the program that gives federal dollars to schools serving mostly low-income students ― and require some of this funding to be used for teacher pay increases. Sanders has said he will work with states to set a minimum base salary for teachers of $60,000. Former Rep. Beto O’ Rourke (Texas) has called for the creation of a fund that would help incentivize states and districts to raise teacher pay.
When the candidates speak of these plans on the campaign trail, they’re greeted with cheers and applause. But in conversations with teachers, the reaction is more mixed. HuffPost spoke with a dozen educators from around the country on the issue.
Some teachers’ reactions ranged from unabashedly excited ― one educator even said Harris’ plan on this issue helped make her one of his favorite candidates ― to cautiously optimistic. But several educators said they are also skeptical of the politicians’ plans, CONTINUE READING: Democratic Presidential Candidates Are Promising To Raise Teacher Pay. Teachers Are Skeptical. | HuffPost