In a back-to-school press conference Friday, August 22, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, joined by CEA President Kate Dias and other education leaders and advocates, called for federal tax credits of up to $15,000 for educators as well as other financial assistance that would put money back in public school teachers’ pockets.
Blumenthal is co-sponsor of the RAISE (Respect, Advancement, and Increasing Support for Education) Act, which would provide educators with a minimum of $1,000 in refundable tax credits, up to $15,000, as well as increase the educator tax deduction to $500 to offset teachers’ purchases of school supplies.
“Back to school means that excitement is surging, but it also means teachers are splurging,” the senator said, pointing out that educators frequently pay for their students’ essentials. “Teachers are dedicated and focused unequivocally and uncompromisingly on the education of their students. They want to make sure their students have everything they need, every possible fair shot at the opportunities that education gives them, so they’re pulling from their own household budgets to provide supplies for their classrooms.”
Calling for unanimous, bipartisan congressional support of the bill, he said, “Everyone knows teachers are essential to the health of our society and our quality of life, and they need to be recognized not by rhetoric but by the pay they receive.”
Recalling her own out-of-pocket expenses as a first-year educator and continuing throughout her teaching career, CEA President Kate Dias noted, “The reality is that it hasn’t changed in the last 25 years. In fact, the problem has gotten worse and is exacerbated by the salary situation of our educators.”
While the living wage in Connecticut is roughly $90,000 for an adult with a child, she pointed out, the starting salary for a Connecticut educator is just over half that, at $49,860.
“Adjusted for inflation, our starting salaries are $3,000 below what they were in 2008, and our average salary is still five percent below what it was ten years ago. We’ve made strong moves across the state to raise teacher salaries, but we are far behind due to years of neglect and disregard, and we need every possible opportunity to make up those funds.”
“Children deserve great schools, and our hardworking teachers deserve a raise, and that’s why we are here to support the RAISE Act,” said Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam, adding, “Kate laid this out very clearly: Our teachers are overworked and underpaid.”
Hartford Federation of Teachers President Carole Gale, who similarly recalled spending $1,000 of her own money each year to stock her classroom library and purchase math manipulatives for students, also expressed her appreciation for the RAISE Act. “Certainly we need to attract teachers to this profession—the profession most important to our democracy and our economy—and I applaud this effort.”
Hartford Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Andraé Townsel agreed that increasing teachers’ pay would help schools attract more of the best and brightest into the profession.
Noting that a tax credit is “no substitute for higher teacher compensation,” Senator Blumenthal said, “Putting $15,000 back in teachers’ pockets when they shell out their own money to buy school supplies, lunches, and books is a start. Teachers are the backstop for a lot of our students in high-poverty areas, and the RAISE Act is an economic imperative.”
