Editing Education in the United States (section)

=== The Teacher Shortage ===
In more recent years, high teacher turnover and low teacher retention have combined in American public schools to create a teacher shortage. In the transition from 2021 to 2022 school year to the 2023–2024 school year, statistics found for 8 states that teacher turnover (amount of teachers who either leave the profession or move between schools) was in between 14%-16%, which is around 2% higher than average in pre-[[COVID-19 pandemic|pandemic]] years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barnum |first=Matt |date=2023-03-06 |title=Teacher turnover hits new highs across U.S. |url=https://www.chalkbeat.org/2023/3/6/23624340/teacher-turnover-leaving-the-profession-quitting-higher-rate/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Chalkbeat |language=en}}</ref> Many accredit the higher teacher turnover rate to be because of low salaries,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Miles |first=Karen Hawley |date=2018-09-18 |title=Teacher Salaries: A Critical Issue for Student Outcomes |url=https://www.erstrategies.org/news/teacher-salaries-a-critical-equity-issue/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Education Resource Strategies |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last1=Cheeseman Newburger |first1=Jennifer |last2=Beckhusen |first2=Julia |date=July 21, 2022 |title=Average Teachers' Earnings Declining, Lower Than Similarly Educated Workers |url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/07/teachers-among-most-educated-yet-pay-lags.html |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Census.gov |language=en}}</ref> low job satisfaction,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Horowitz |first=Luona Lin, Kim Parker and Juliana Menasce |date=2024-04-04 |title=What's It Like To Be a Teacher in America Today? |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/04/04/whats-it-like-to-be-a-teacher-in-america-today/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Geiger |first1=Tray |last2=Pivovarova |first2=Margarita |date=2018-08-18 |title=The effects of working conditions on teacher retention |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13540602.2018.1457524 |journal=Teachers and Teaching |volume=24 |issue=6 |pages=604–625 |doi=10.1080/13540602.2018.1457524 |issn=1354-0602}}</ref> and moonlighting, or the tendency for educators to have multiple jobs outside of teaching, that leads to exhaustion and burnout.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Klungseth |first1=Scott |last2=Anderson |first2=Katie |date=2024-02-17 |title=Teaching by Day, Moonlighting by Night: Moonlighting as a Response to Low Teacher Pay |url=https://pubs.sciepub.com/education/12/2/2/index.html |journal=American Journal of Educational Research |language=en |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=38–43 |doi=10.12691/education-12-2-2 |issn=2327-6126}}</ref>

==== Teacher pay ====
According to data from the National Teacher and Principal Survey, the average base salary for public school teachers in 2020–21 was $61,600, but this number varied significantly from state to state.<ref name="Stanford15Dec22">{{Cite news |last=Stanford |first=Libby |date=2022-12-15 |title=Teachers Would Make at Least $60K Under New Federal Bill |url=https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/teachers-would-make-at-least-60k-under-new-federal-bill/2022/12 |access-date=2023-02-19 |work=Education Week |language=en |issn=0277-4232}}</ref> Teachers in New York had the highest average base salary at $90,222, while teachers in Mississippi had the lowest at $46,862. Additionally, teachers earn lower weekly wages and receive lower overall compensation for their work than similar college-educated peers, a phenomenon known as the "pay penalty."<ref name="Stanford15Dec22" /> More than 95% of primary and secondary teachers have a [[bachelor's degree]], and over half of primary teachers and 58% of secondary teachers have a [[Postgraduate education|graduate degree]]. However, they earn less than similarly educated peers in different professional fields.<ref name=":2" /> The difference of salary has also grown over time, with teachers earning only around 8% less than similarly educated peers in 1998, but 17% less on average in 2015.<ref name=":1" /> Federal legislation proposed in December 2022 and endorsed February 2023 by [[United States Senate Committee on Finance|Senate Finance Committee]]<nowiki/>chair [[Bernie Sanders]] would set a minimum salary of $60,000 per year for teachers.<ref name="Stanford15Dec22" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Will |first=Madeline |date=2023-02-14 |title=The Push for a $60K Base Teacher Salary Gains Steam as Bernie Sanders Signs On |url=https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/the-push-for-a-60k-base-teacher-salary-gains-steam-as-bernie-sanders-signs-on/2023/02 |access-date=2023-02-19 |work=Education Week |language=en |issn=0277-4232}}</ref>

==== Attractiveness of Teaching Profession ====
Teaching salary and the "pay penalty" are factors that are contributing to the lack of educators coming into the teaching field. In a 2006 sample, only 10% of high school students reported that they aspired to go into the teaching profession.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Han |first1=Seong Won |last2=Borgonovi |first2=Francesca |last3=Guerriero |first3=Sonia |date=2018-02-01 |title=What Motivates High School Students to Want to Be Teachers? The Role of Salary, Working Conditions, and Societal Evaluations About Occupations in a Comparative Perspective |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0002831217729875 |journal=American Educational Research Journal |language=en |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=3–39 |doi=10.3102/0002831217729875 |issn=0002-8312}}</ref> Research has also found that student achievement has a negative correlation with aspiring to be a teacher. This is because students who are higher achieving believe they can acquire a job that has better pay and better working conditions than teaching.<ref name=":3" /> This is leading to potentially lower achieving students going into the teaching profession, which in turn is affecting the quality of education students are receiving throughout America.<ref name=":3" />

==== Teacher Moonlighting and Burnout ====
A significant number of teachers have to work extra hours or other jobs to make up for low pay, with nearly 17% of teachers having a job outside the school system in 2020–21. Public school teachers also work more than the required 39.4 hours a week, with an average of 52 hours worked per week, only 25.2 of which is spent on teaching. This idea of teachers working extra hours or jobs has been named "teacher moonlighting". Moonlighting can consist of [[tutoring]], [[coaching]], [[Freelancer|freelance work]], or any other job outside of the schooling system. Around 44% of teachers in America participate in some type of moonlighting to supplement their income.<ref name=":5" /> Motivation for moonlighting was perceived to be pursuing interests, passions, or developing professionally, but the main reason for moonlighting was the view that the teacher salary was too low. The expense of living may exceed the teaching salary, and this causes educators to search for supplementary income to lower financial stress.<ref name=":5" /> However, the stress of another job may lead to [[teacher burnout]], which is classified as emotional exhaustion, [[depersonalization]], and reduced personal accomplishment.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last1=Brackett |first1=Marc A. |last2=Palomera |first2=Raquel |last3=Mojsa-Kaja |first3=Justyna |last4=Reyes |first4=Maria Regina |last5=Salovey |first5=Peter |date=2010 |title=Emotion-regulation ability, burnout, and job satisfaction among British secondary-school teachers |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pits.20478 |journal=Psychology in the Schools |language=en |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=406–417 |doi=10.1002/pits.20478 |issn=1520-6807}}</ref>

==== Solutions to the Teacher Shortage ====
To lessen the teacher shortage, educational institutions need to lower the turnover rate while keeping the [[Teacher retention|retention]] rate of teachers steady. Researchers have found that teachers who have a better ability to regulate their emotional state are less prone to burnout and find more job satisfaction within the teaching profession.<ref name=":6" /> Educators who have a higher ability to recognize their own emotions, regulate them, and recognize them in others may be less likely to [[Teacher burnout|burnout]], and therefore better suited for the teaching profession.<ref name=":6" /> If potential educators recognize these qualities within themselves before they enter the profession, it may improve retention rates. Support systems for educators within schools are also important to retain teachers and prevent burnout. Studies have found that teachers in high poverty schools who also have strong relationships with administrators and mentors are more incentivized to stay at a school than teachers at low poverty schools with sub-par relationships within the school community.<ref name=":4" />Teachers with positive support systems and community within their profession are less likely to leave the profession.<ref name=":4" /> Teachers with mentors, or more senior teachers and administrators who are available resources for advice and support also have been found to lower teacher attrition rates.<ref name=":4" /> A study done with high schoolers also found that societies in which teachers are held in higher respect have a higher retention and lower attrition rate.<ref name=":3" />