Federal legislation would boost teacher pay

Teachers earn significantly less than other professionals with similar levels of educational attainment, and many are leaving the occupation because of burnout. To partly address those shortcomings, federal lawmakers recently introduced a bill that would provide teachers with tax breaks of up to $15,000.

Public-school teachers were paid about 20 percent less than employees with a bachelor’s degree working in other industries, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute. Low starting pay was also an issue: although the national average salary for teachers was about $64,000, the average starting salary was under $42,000.