A strong majority of Americans know teachers are underpaid, according to a new poll, and it’s not a partisan issue. A whopping 78 percent of Americans think teachers aren’t paid enough—the national average teacher salary is $58,950—while 15 percent think they’re paid the right amount and six percent think they’re overpaid.
The AP-NORC poll found that parents and those without children are about equally likely to think teachers are paid too little. It’s a sentiment that crosses party lines, too. Nearly 9 in 10 Democrats, 78 percent of independents and 66 percent of Republicans think teacher salaries are too low.
For the record, the people who think teachers are underpaid are factually correct: teachers are paid less than other workers with similar levels of education and experience. That’s one of the many reasons—chronic underfunding of schools that goes way beyond teacher pay is another—that teachers in several states have walked out of their classrooms and into their state capitols to push for higher pay and increased education funding. And the public supports them in that:
Slightly more than half of Americans — 52 percent — also approve of teachers leaving the classroom to strike in their search for higher pay, while 25 percent disapprove. Among those who say they’ve heard about the recent teacher protests, 80 percent say they approve of such tactics.
Arizona teachers have voted to walk out later this week after legislators refused to take action on higher pay and increased school funding.
