By: Team Sherrod

Teachers play a key role in shaping the next generation.

And yet, in schools in Ohio and nationwide, too many teachers aren’t paid fairly, or are forced to pick up second or third jobs to make ends meet.

That needs to end.

Sherrod works to level the playing field for all workers—including educators. If you agree we need leaders who fight for our teachers, show your support now:

TIME Money: 7 Big Things You Should Understand About Teacher Pay, According to Teachers

Jennifer Calfas – September 10, 2018

Key points:

• Over the last year, educators in a number of states have launched protests, strikes, and walkouts to draw attention to what they say is unfair pay and work conditions.
• Teaching in America now appears to have reached a tipping point. Low wages have driven some teachers out of the profession entirely, and fewer people want to become educators—heightening a teacher shortage crisis as class sizes grow larger and educators take on extra roles.
• Many work second or third jobs to make ends meet and pick up extra responsibilities in the school district for extra cash.
• That includes during the summer, when a lot of educators spend time teaching summer school, picking up more restaurant shifts than during the school year, or spending weeks in training and preparing new lesson plans.
• A recent report from the Economic Policy Institute found that public school teachers earn on average hundreds of dollars less a week—about 18.7% less—than other college graduates with full-time jobs.
• Many teachers do not receive paychecks during the summer. Some school districts offer teachers a 12-month paycheck schedule, but many don’t.
• Of the money teachers do make, a portion of it is spent back on the classroom. A recent Department of Education survey found that, between 2014 and 2015, a startling 94% of public school teachers paid for school supplies without reimbursement from their school districts.
• In addition to out-of-pocket costs, educators say they often face a heavy emotional outlay.
• Indeed, many teachers did not go into the profession for its wages and hours. Many come into the field to help children develop and learn—and to make a difference in their lives. But teachers feel like they aren’t seen this way—and they want that to change.

Read more here.