Teachers are the foundation of our country; without them, we wouldn’t be able to run the government, get jobs, and raise the generations. However, the amount of people taking these jobs is slowly decreasing, all because of one thing: the low pay in teaching careers.

Despite the fact that teachers are one of the most important members of society, they rank among the lowest paid jobs in the United States. One in ten teachers rely on second jobs to earn enough money to support their families, and due to salary growth in other countries, the US has fallen at least $10,000 dollars behind with the average teacher pay.

This isn’t just an issue for teachers either. As the amount of people getting into a teaching profession declines, students suffer. The lower quality teachers are put in place, and as a result students will not get the most out of learning, and end up with a lower success rate. Students also tend to respond better to teachers who are both passionate and good at their jobs, and with the smaller amount of those teachers in school today, students are bound to feel the effects.

Over the years, multiple bills have come up in Arizona with propositions of giving more funding to public schools. This is a good thing of course, as schools can always use extra funds for programs, tuition help, and more; however, this money rarely goes to teachers’ salaries, leaving teachers struggling.  

The average pay for teachers needs to increase; if it doesn’t, more teachers will be leaving the profession, and young adults will become deterred from becoming educators. As the good teachers leave, students’ performance will be negatively affected, which in this day and age, we can’t afford.