Dear Senator Fetterman,

My name is Shan Wu, and I’m a first-year college student at Penn State University. I

grew up in Central Pennsylvania and have had the pleasure of seeing your political career expand

over the past few years. I am writing today in hopes that you recognize the issue regarding the

lack of educators in the public school system and will take action to alleviate this situation.

At Penn State, I am taking a course titled Rhetoric and Civic Life, in which we discuss

civic issues and how to advocate for change. Recently, on February 23, I participated in and

moderated a deliberation regarding possible solutions to increase the amount of educators in the

public K-12 school system in Pennsylvania. In leading this deliberation, I was joined by fellow

classmates Bella Ilyana Ahmad Sabri, Gabby Esposito, Mercedes Hamilton, Essence Henderson,

and Annalise Wu. We deliberated this topic with our other classmates and presented how a lack

of educators causes greater troubles within student education and how possible solutions may be

able to yield higher retention and participation rates within public schools. In doing so, we have

found several ideas to be most prominent in the discussions: job accessibility, government action,

and job standardization.

A large reason why there are fewer teachers entering the system is due to job

accessibility. Like any other job, there are requirements to become a teacher, but due to the

already low salaries and high costs of education and living, many stray from the teaching

position, seeing that it is not worth the time or effort. In becoming a teacher, one must obtain an

undergraduate education, as well as a certificate to teach, all of which takes time and money to

complete. With the current soaring costs of a college education, teaching at a public school
simply does not pay enough to cover paying current bills and student loans off, making this

career unappealing to the younger generation. The Center for American Progress writer Emily

Katz found that “teachers’ salaries are lower than those of other similarly educated

professionals—often too low to meet their families’ needs, forcing many teachers to work

additional jobs.” (Katz). This action shows that the costs of living are growing, and that teaching

is not an easily accessible career with all its certifications and requirements. However, it is

necessary for teachers to be well qualified to teach, as they play such a large role in the success

and development of young children. In making the job more accessible and appealing to

potential candidates, I advocate for student loan forgiveness to all public school educators.

Already in the process of being implemented in some areas, “TLF (Teacher Loan Forgiveness)

forgives up to $17,500 of your Direct or Federal Stafford Loans after 5 complete and consecutive

years of teaching at a qualifying school” (Federal Student Aid). Through this act, educators no

longer have to worry about debt from student loans throughout their career, and this gives further

incentive to teach. Teachers must be qualified, but they also must be supported. By decreasing

their costs for education, the possibility of becoming a teacher is more accessible and logical,

allowing for more people to join the field.

In further alleviating this issue, government action is necessary in creating greater change

within the overall system. Being a government job, public school teachers should receive the

benefits that come along with that position. Possible large scale salary increases, reallocation of

funds, and waiving of costs are all actions that can be taken by our lawmakers to give teachers a

more sustainable life. It is commonly recognized that teacher salaries are low, and the Economic

Policy Institute found in a report by Sylvia Allegretto that “teacher wages have not increased

sufficiently enough to keep up with inflation” (Allegretto). With inflation being so relevant to
current politics and actions, wages must be considered and recognized as well. It is merely not

possible for teachers to live comfortably when their current wages do not match the status of the

country’s economy. The issue between education and economy should not be seen as competition

between the two, instead, they should align, with education and educators’ salaries changing in

accordance with the current economic status. Another option discussed was the use of foreign aid

to go towards education; however, I do not feel that this solution is in the best interest of our

nation. Instead, reallocation of our current funds would be a more accessible and motivating

solution. By allocating more money towards education, it can be assured that teachers are paid

and treated more just and that the education students receive is of quality. Of course, this does

then create the issue of less funding towards other issues, but education is so necessary and

important to our nation, and it deserves the attention and funding from the government. To create

change on a greater scale, to our state and to our nation, the government should take the proper

actions to ensure educators are treated and paid in accordance with the current economy.

Also important in asserting true equality within the education system is job

standardization, regarding both teacher pay and conditions. It is obvious that different areas have

different funds and costs of living, but this difference is often the reason why educators choose to

stray from areas in which more are needed. Lower class communities are often not able to

improve so much because of the lack of educators, which comes from the lack of pay. On

average, teachers work 54 hours in a week, both in and out of the classroom, but their pay does

not reflect their work done (Najarro). In fact, there is a great difference even just within

Pennsylvania in public educator salaries. Reporter Ed Mahon found that the average teacher

salary in Pennsylvania is $67k, but ranges from about $27k to $100k depending on the school

district (Mahon). Such a wide range should not be what teachers must choose between, so it is
necessary for teacher salaries to be standardized. However, due to differing costs of living, it is

not in our best interest to standardize the wages into one number. After some discussion between

classmates, we found that a standardized ratio between cost of living and teacher salary should

be used in determining wages for public educators. This would allow for less disparity within the

field as well as greater possibility of new educators taking roles at needing communities.

Resources provided to teachers should also be standardized, and not only in accordance with the

wealth of individual districts. Many classmates recall having teachers use their own money to

pay for classroom materials and necessities, which should not be the case. In the modern society,

technology, supplies, air conditioning and heating, and other accommodations and material

should be provided to by the government in a standard amount. Teachers already receive such

low wages, and they should not be forced to use their own money in order to pay for basic

classroom materials. In standardizing and providing the resources and materials that teachers

need within the classroom, the government has the potential to take the burden of cost off of

many educators, convincing more to join the field. Standardizing the wages and resources of

teachers will give teachers more incentive to teach and students a greater learning experience.

Senator Fetterman, on behalf of my classmates and many others in Pennsylvania

impacted by this issue, I ask that you take these thoughts into consideration. While it is simple

and traditional to leave public education to the individual districts, it is not enough, and greater

change must be taken. The absence of teachers within the public K-12 system causes educational

gaps within students and worse experiences for both the teachers in positions and the many

students they are put to handle. By making the job more accessible and standardized through

government action, many more people would be incentivized to join the education field, thus
creating a better learning and teaching environment throughout the state and nation. Our teachers

deserve better accommodations and treatment, and the students deserve a proper education.

Sincerely,

Shan Wu
 Works Cited

“4 Loan Forgiveness Programs for Teachers.” 4 Loan Forgiveness Programs for Teachers –

Federal Student Aid, Federal Student Aid, https://studentaid.gov/articles/teacher-

loan-forgiveness-options/#:~:text=Teacher%20Loan%20Forgiveness%20(TLF),teaching

%20at%20a%20qualifying%20school.

Allegretto, Sylvia. “The Teacher Pay Penalty Has Hit a New High: Trends in Teacher

Wages and Compensation through 2021.” Economic Policy Institute, 16 Aug. 2022,

https://www.epi.org/publication/teacher-pay-penalty-2022/#:~:text=The%20average%20

weekly%20wages%20of.

Katz, Emily. “Why K-12 Teachers and Their Students Need Investments in Child Care.”

Center for American Progress, 8 June 2022, http://www.americanprogress.org/

article/why-k-12-teachers-and-their-students-need-investments-in-child-care/.

Mahon, Ed. “What the Average Classroom Teacher Earns in Every Pa. Public School

District.” WHYY, PA Post, 24 Dec. 2018, https://whyy.org/articles

/what-the-average-classroom-teacher-earns-in-every-pa-public-school-district/.
Najarro, Ileana. “Here's How Many Hours a Week Teachers Work.” Education Week,

Education Week, 26 Apr. 2022, https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/

heres-how-many-hours-a-week-teachers-work/2022/04.