Paul Promotes Teacher Pay Raises PDF Print E-mail
FOR RELEASE: July 14, 2000

Paul Promotes Teacher Pay Raises Urges Colleagues to Support "Teacher Tax Cut Act"

Washington, D.C. - On Thursday, Representative Ron Paul wrote his colleagues in Congress asking them to support his "Teacher Tax Cut Act" (HR 937), which would increase the take-home pay of all schoolteachers in America. He stated that the most serious problem facing American education is the potential shortfall of qualified teachers.
"A major reason schools find it difficult to attract qualified educators is that teachers remain underpaid compared to other professions," said Paul. "Almost 50% of new teachers leave the profession after five years. This situation must change if our nation's schools are going to attract and keep quality teachers, especially in highly competitive fields like math and science."
The "Teacher Tax Cut Act" provides every teacher in America with a $1,000 tax credit. Therefore, it increases teachers' salaries without raising federal expenditures. Paul said it also lets teachers know how much the American people and Congress appreciate their hard work and dedication.
"Without quality teaching, quality education is impossible," said Paul. "Last year, new teachers made an average of $26,639, over 10 thousand dollars below the average starting salary for college graduates of $37,194! Teachers with 16 years experience earned $40,574, while accountants with the same level of experience earned $49,237, engineers earned $68,294 and computer systems analysts earned $66,782."
Paul concluded, "We must ensure our children are not denied a quality education because high taxes drive good people away from the teaching profession. I call upon my colleagues to help strengthen education by raising teacher salaries across the board."