--- title: America’s Teachers Can’t Afford to Teach description: Educators increasingly cannot afford even life’s basic necessities, writes Randi Weingarten. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/06/11/america-s-teachers-can-t-afford-to-teach/ author: Randi Weingarten article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-06-11T11:00:03.794Z article:modified_time: 2026-06-11T11:00:07.699Z article:section: Ideas og:title: America’s Teachers Can’t Afford to Teach og:description: Educators increasingly cannot afford even life’s basic necessities, writes Randi Weingarten. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/06/11/america-s-teachers-can-t-afford-to-teach/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ce322815a4dc95e/6a29b54de9292a3683d2e922/classroom.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: classroom.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: America’s Teachers Can’t Afford to Teach twitter:description: Educators increasingly cannot afford even life’s basic necessities, writes Randi Weingarten. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ce322815a4dc95e/6a29b54de9292a3683d2e922/classroom.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  IDEASTime ideas # America’s Teachers Can’t Afford to Teach by [Randi Weingarten](https://time.com/author/randi-weingarten/) ## Randi Weingarten Randi Weingarten is president of the American Federation of Teachers. Jun 11, 2026 11:00 AM UTC  Andrea Chu—Getty Images by [Randi Weingarten](https://time.com/author/randi-weingarten/) ## Randi Weingarten Randi Weingarten is president of the American Federation of Teachers. Jun 11, 2026 11:00 AM UTC Teachers’ paychecks have never fully reflected their passion or professionalism, but as [America’s cost-of-living crisis](https://time.com/article/2026/04/10/america-cost-of-living-pay-crisis/) persists, educators increasingly cannot [afford](https://time.com/collections/davos-2026/7339214/global-affordability-crisis-cost-of-living-inflation-politics/) even life’s basic necessities. Rebecca Mikkelson, a school counselor in New Mexico, currently works three jobs just to buy the basics—groceries, a place to live, and health insurance. “The message this sends is deeply troubling: even when educators follow the rules, invest in education, eliminate my debt, and work full time in public service, financial security is no longer guaranteed,” she tells me. “This is not a personal failure, it’s a systemic one.” Her story is not unique. A[ recent survey](https://www.aft.org/press-release/new-findings-vast-majority-working-families-live-paycheck-paycheck-and-growing-number) of American Federation of Teachers (AFT) members found that the vast majority are living from paycheck to paycheck and many are taking on debt to pay for groceries, rent, and healthcare costs. Educators play a crucial role in our society, and the affordability crisis among America’s teachers can no longer be ignored. This is a five-alarm fire, and it’s getting worse. According to the most recent [data](https://www.nea.org/resource-library/educator-pay-and-student-spending-how-does-your-state-rank) from the National Education Association, teachers make less than they did 10 years ago. The average starting salary has increased a paltry 0.7%—nowhere near enough to cover soaring gas prices, which have [increased](https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=emm%5Fepm0%5Fpte%5Fnus%5Fdpg&f=m) more than 40% this year. Meanwhile, the pay gap between teachers and other college-educated professionals—known as the “teacher pay penalty”—has [grown to 27%](https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-pay-penalty-reached-a-record-high-in-2024-three-decades-of-leaving-public-school-teachers-behind/). To put it plainly, people with the same level of education and experience can make far more doing almost anything other than teaching. We cannot accept this as an unfortunate reality or an accident. For decades, this country has lionized teachers as “heroes” and then turned around and [underinvested](https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics) in public education, chipping away at the wages that once made teaching a stable middle-class profession by [attacking](https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/florida-legislature-union-busting-bill-teachers-education-property-taxes/) collective bargaining—one of the few tools educators have to fight for decent pay and well-supported schools. Now, [instead of funding our schools](https://time.com/7308619/trump-starve-public-schools/) and our teachers, we are prioritizing a [multi-billion-dollar war](http://v) that has no end date. The consequences of this decision are stark.[ More than 70%](https://www.nea.org/about-nea/media-center/press-releases/nea-reports-show-educator-pay-falling-behind-inflation-over-past-decade-highlight-power-unions) of teachers now work more than one job. Roughly[ one in three teachers works](https://news.gallup.com/poll/702599/one-five-teachers-struggle-financially.aspx), or has recently worked, a second job unrelated to education, such as driving for Uber, waiting tables, or making food deliveries on weekends. These are people who spent years preparing for a profession that is supposed to be one of the most important in a democratic society. No other industrialized country would stand for this, and neither should we. Affordability is not just about prices. It is about power. A union contract is one of the few ways educators can push back against stagnating pay and deteriorating teaching and learning conditions. When politicians undermine unions, they take away the ability of the professionals we rely on to educate our kids to negotiate over wages, benefits, class size, staffing, and school conditions. And while teachers in states with collective bargaining laws [earn 24% more](https://www.nea.org/resource-library/educator-pay-and-student-spending-how-does-your-state-rank) than those in states without them, the bargaining table is about much more than money. It is where educators [fight for the common good](https://www.bargainingforthecommongood.org/). United Teachers Los Angeles, the Chicago Teachers Union, the Saint Paul Federation of Educators, and the Minneapolis Federation of Educators are among the many AFT affiliates that have bargained not only for smaller class sizes, but for school nurses, counselors, librarians, health services, parent resources, and after-school programs. When lawmakers strip away bargaining rights, they don’t just depress pay; they take opportunities and support away from children. And they ultimately [hurt student achievement](https://www.thedailybeast.com/kids-do-better-in-schools-with-teachers-unions/). If Americans want strong public schools, we have to make teaching a profession that people can afford to enter and stay in. When 87% of teachers [say](https://www.nea.org/resource-library/educator-pay-and-student-spending-how-does-your-state-rank) low pay is a serious concern, we must listen. That means raising pay in real terms, not merely bestowing nominal bumps which can be wiped out by inflation. It means protecting and expanding collective bargaining, not undermining it. It means treating school funding as a public obligation, not a political bargaining chip. And it means rejecting the idea that the price of being a teacher is pauperism. The professionals who dedicate their lives to teaching our children know they won’t get rich doing so. But they should at least know that their paychecks will cover life’s essentials. If America cannot guarantee that modest compact, then the crisis is not just about affordability. It’s about our values as a nation. [TIME Ideas](https://www.time.com/ideas) hosts the world's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. We welcome outside contributions. 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