How Much Do Public School Teachers Make?

When adjusted for inflation, public school teachers in the U.S. have not seen a pay rise in decades, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics. In fact, after 2010 the pay slightly decreased when inflation was taken into consideration. There was a bump in pay for teachers from 1980 to 1990, but since then their salary has stayed relatively the same.

The topic of education was one of the few times the presidential candidates didn’t attack each other during the tenth Democratic debate in Charleston, South Carolina. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg brought attention to when he was mayor, saying he expanded public charter schools and raised the salaries of teachers. Senator Elizabeth Warren claimed she would choose a public school teacher for her education secretary and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg expressed appreciation for public school teachers.