Texas Teacher Shortage Linked to Low Wages, Oversized Classes
Eric Galatas, Public News Service – TX
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas teachers earned more than 22 percent less in
weekly wages than similar college graduates in 2018, after accounting
for education, experience and other factors, according to a new Economic Policy Institute report.
Report co-author Sylvia Allegretto, an economist at the University of
California, says that’s a problem because more teachers are leaving the
profession, and fewer college students are choosing a teaching career,
in many cases because the pay isn’t enough to cover their student loans.
“One of our highest ideals is to educate each and every kid regardless
of means, and I think the teachers’ strikes that we saw last year and
this year are bringing attention to that failure,” Allegretto states.
Allegretto adds teacher shortages lead to class sizes that are too
large, and lack of funding also means out-of-date textbooks, fewer
school librarians, nurses and counselors, and deferred building
maintenance.
The report’s release comes as the Texas Senate Education Committee is set on Thursday to consider House Bill 3, a school finance measure.
Lawmakers consistently have pointed to tight budgets as the biggest challenge for fully funding public education.
Allegretto argues that the only thing standing in the way of the richest
nation in the world having the best public school system in the world
is political will.
She says when companies such as Amazon don’t pay their fair share of
taxes, and tax cuts are given to those who have taken in the largest
share of wealth, state and local governments are put in a tough spot.
“And what the result is, that there’s a price to pay,” she stresses.
“And the price to pay is public schools, public infrastructure. That’s
what happens when you don’t have the tax base, but there’s no reason
that we couldn’t have the tax base.”
Male teachers earn more than 30 percent less in weekly wages than
similar college graduates, and predictably, fewer are entering a
profession where three in four are women.
Allegretto points to numerous reports of boys having trouble in school,
and says one known remedy, having more men in schools, is not currently
an option.