- National polls conducted by the Associated Press, National Public Radio
and, most recently, the New York Times, report that most Americans agree that teachers are underpaid. According to the New York Times, “Backing for teachers cut across demographic, regional and partisan lines. Even a majority of Republicans—56 percent—said they would favor raising taxes to increase teachers’ pay.” Recent teacher walkouts in six states that skew Republican have raised not only the issue of teacher pay, but the fact that 29 states spend less on public education than before the recession, which is starving schools of much-needed resources, hurting students’ ability to receive a high-quality education.