American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten warned this week that educators are being priced out of their profession, arguing in an op-ed for Time that teachers "can no longer afford even life's basic necessities" as inflation, housing costs, and stagnant pay collide.
In the article, "America's Teachers Can't Afford to Teach," Weingarten wrote that their pay has "never fully reflected their passion or professionalism," but said the crisis has become urgent.
She cited New Mexico school counselor Rebecca Mikkelson, who works three jobs to cover groceries, housing, and health insurance.
"This is not a personal failure, it's a systemic one," Mikkelson told Weingarten.
Weingarten called the situation "a five-alarm fire," pointing to National Education Association data showing teacher pay has lost ground the past decade and the gap between teachers and other college-educated professionals has reached 27%.
"To put it plainly," she wrote, "people with the same level of education and experience can make far more doing almost anything other than teaching."
The numbers back up the concern.
The NEA estimates the average U.S. public school teacher salary at $74,500 for 2025-26, while state averages range from below $55,000 in the lowest-paying states to nearly $90,000 in Massachusetts, California, and New York.
In the prosperous state of Florida, for example, the median income for public school teachers is $56,663.
By comparison, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show far higher national median pay for many other professions: Software developers earn about $136,000, registered nurses $97,500, and accountants and auditors $83,700.
The pay gap is not just a household-budget problem.
Education analysts warn it's a competitiveness problem.
If fewer talented graduates enter or remain in teaching, the country risks weakening the pipeline that produces future engineers, scientists, doctors, and technology workers.
That risk comes as China is rapidly expanding its science and engineering workforce.
Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology has projected that Chinese universities could produce more than 77,000 STEM Ph.D. graduates annually by 2025 compared with about 40,000 in the U.S.
Excluding international students from the U.S. count, China's advantage would be more than 3 to 1.
The National Science Board has similarly warned that while the U.S. remains a major research power, the global balance in science and engineering activity has been shifting toward East and Southeast Asia, especially China.
Weingarten argues the answer is higher real pay, stronger collective bargaining, and a renewed commitment to public school funding.
"The professionals who dedicate their lives to teaching our children know they won't get rich doing so," she wrote. "But they should at least know that their paychecks will cover life's essentials."
The stakes, she said, go beyond affordability. "It's about our values as a nation."