November/December 2018 Issue

These Numbers Show Why 2018 Was the Year Teachers Got Mad

Low pay + shrinking budgets + tax cuts = ______

Teachers protesting school funding cuts in Oklahoma City in April.Sue Ogrocki/AP

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In 2018, teachers in West Virginia, Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Oklahoma led demonstrations, walkouts, and strikes to protest the sorry state of education in their states—including low teacher pay, shrinking budgets, and overcrowded classrooms. The movement may be a sign that even in red states, slashing taxes and budgets no longer makes the grade. And it could cost Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker his job. 

Reading, writing, and recession

  • Education spending fell sharply following the recession. In 2016, 25 states provided less funding per pupil for public schools than they did before the 2008 recession.
  • By that year, 8 of the 14 states run by Democrats had restored spending per pupil to 2009 levels. Only 5 of the 22 states controlled by Republicans had done so.
  • Seven states, including Arizona, Colorado, and Oklahoma, currently have ballot measures that would allow tax increases to fund education.

The new math

Class warfare

  • Nearly 1 in 5 teachers have a second job.
  • The average teacher is required to work 38 hours a week—but actually works 53.
  • 94% of teachers say they spend their own money on classroom supplies—on average, more than $450 a year
  • Between 2000 and 2017, teachers’ average inflation-adjusted wages dropped $35 a week.
  • Teachers make an average of 19% less than other workers with similar backgrounds.

Falling behind

The education president

  • President Trump has suggested giving teachers “a little bit of a bonus” if they carry guns to school.
  • Trump’s proposed 2018 budget asked for the largest cuts to the Department of Education in its history
  • 4% of Americans say our schools are the best in the world.

 

Sources: Education spending after recession: New York Times; per pupil funding in 25 states: American Federation of Teachers (AFT); Democratic/Republican states: New York Times; 2018 ballot measures: National Conference of State Legislatures; teachers with second jobs: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES); average teacher workweek: NCES; spending on supplies: NCES; change in inflation-adjusted wages: Economic Policy Institute (EPI); teacher pay vs. comparable workers: EPI; change in inflation-adjusted teacher pay (chart): NCES; change in inflation-adjusted spending per pupil (chart): NCES; “a little bit of a bonus”: New York Times; proposed 2018 budget: AFT; “best in the world”: Pew Research Center .

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