[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 43 (Wednesday, April 17, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2760-S2761]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                TEACHERS

  Mr. MILLER. Madam President, I am at heart a teacher. Perhaps it is 
genetic, for I am the son of teachers. Whatever its source, a 
commitment to education runs deep in my soul. That is why, when I was 
Governor of Georgia, I chose to focus on education, for all our other 
challenges have at their root the same solution: Children who are loved 
and children who are educated.
  I believe education is everything. It is the educated individual who 
makes this Nation stronger. It is the educated individual who adds to 
its wealth, protects against enemies, carries forward its ideals and 
faith.
  The Latin phrase ``alma mater'' means ``nourishing mother.'' That is 
a pretty good description of what our schools should be for our 
children.
  Within those schools, all education starts with the teacher standing 
at the head of the child's classroom. Teachers are the world's most 
noble creatures, engaged in the world's most noble profession. Teachers 
are the architects who guide and shape the building of young lives. 
Teachers are the ones who call forth the best from our children and 
inspire them to reach new heights. Teachers, I think we would all 
agree, are the key ingredient to improving education.
  So if we are to build a first class education system in this country, 
we must be able to attract and hold on to good teachers. Right now, we 
are losing that battle. We are losing that fight badly.
  Last year we set a new standard in Federal aid for education with the 
passage of President Bush's far-reaching education reform bill. But 
while we have made big strides in Federal funding for education, we 
still have not touched teacher salaries at the Federal level.

[[Page S2761]]

  I would argue that teacher pay is the most important area of all 
education. Yet our teachers work in sometimes deplorable conditions and 
for little pay. Public school teachers in America today make an average 
of $43,335 a year. One would assume that about half of the States have 
teacher salaries above the national average and the other half have 
teacher salaries below that level. But actually, only 12 States, plus 
the District of Columbia, have salaries that are higher than the 
national average. The other 38 States are below the national average. 
In fact, the dollar gap between the lowest and the highest average 
salaries varies greatly from a low of $30,265 in South Dakota to a high 
of $53,281 in New Jersey.
  Sadly, our teachers have even lost financial ground over the past few 
years. In the past decade, teacher salaries rose only one-half of 1 
percent when inflation is taken into account. In many States, teachers 
actually lost ground to inflation.
  Today in this Nation, teacher salaries account for a smaller 
proportion of total education spending than they did 40 years ago. In 
1960, the average education expenditure devoted to teacher salaries was 
51 percent. Today it is 36.7 percent, the lowest percentage since 
records have been kept.
  As a result, many of the best and brightest of our young people today 
steer away from the classrooms to join the ranks of better paying 
professions. It has become clear that unless we in Congress take some 
drastic action, and take it soon, this disparity will only get worse 
because on the horizon ominous storm clouds loom darkly. We must hire 2 
million more teachers in the next decade to keep up with new students 
who are entering our schools. Where are we going to get all those new 
teachers? Where?
  Enrollment at our colleges of education is down 30 percent. Among 
those who are willing to try teaching, 40 percent leave the profession 
before the end of their fifth year. In some States, almost 20 percent 
leave after just 1 year. Most, of course, leave to pursue better paying 
careers. And who can blame them? It is a hollow message when we 
constantly tell our teachers how invaluable they are and then pay them 
so little.
  What can we do, and what can we do quickly, to stop this brain drain 
from our schools? How can we make teaching more competitive with better 
paying professionals? I will tell you how we could have an immediate 
effect. Let our teachers keep more of their hard-earned money.
  I will be introducing a bill to give our teachers an immediate pay 
raise in the form of a tax cut. Simply put, teachers would keep more 
money in their pocket each payday and send less of it to the IRS. They 
need this money back home more than we need it up here. And I guarantee 
you they will spend it more wisely than we will. Hard-earned money 
always goes further in a household than it does in a rathole. I call it 
the Thank You Teachers Tax Cut. Here is how it would work.
  It would include every full-time teacher, public and private, in 
every prekindergarten and K through 12 classroom. This tax cut would 
start immediately and would increase the longer the teacher stayed in 
the classroom.
  Teachers with fewer than 5 years in the classroom, about 900,000 
teachers, would get a tax cut equal to one-third of their Federal 
income tax. Teachers with 5 to 10 years of experience, also about 
900,000 teachers, would get to keep two-thirds of what they would 
normally pay in Federal income tax. Teachers with more than 10 years' 
experience--about 1.8 million teachers--would have no Federal income 
tax at all for as long as they stayed in the classroom.
  The Thank You Teachers Tax Cut would mean immediate pay raises of 
between 5 and 15 percent. It would put more money into teachers' 
pockets each and every payday. It would immediately give some equity to 
this noble profession. But it would be more than just more money. It 
would be a tangible show of our respect and our gratitude to this 
profession that is all too often taken for granted.
  So it would be a huge tax cut, more than $16 billion a year at a 
minimum--probably more, according to my very rough math. But when we 
are talking about a projected budget for 2003 of $2.085 trillion, $16 
billion is not even 1 percent of that budget. Don't tell me we cannot 
tighten our belt that little to help our teachers.
  We all know our teachers are not paid adequately. They are not in my 
State and they are not in your State. Some need more help than others. 
Mississippi has the lowest average salary for teachers in the South and 
South Dakota has the lowest paid teachers in the Nation. I would plead 
for the leaders of both parties in this Senate to support this tax cut.
  I also think our Nation's Governors would like this proposal for two 
reasons: First, it does not interfere with the States' rights to set 
teacher salaries. But it does boost the bottom line for every State's 
teachers, and that is what is important.
  Our Governors will also like it because today, and especially in the 
next few years, that Pacman called Medicaid is going to gobble up State 
revenues as never before. I warn you, that will leave a much smaller 
pot of money available at the State level for teacher pay raises.
  I realize there are shortages in other important professions that 
have low salaries and bad working conditions, and I have great sympathy 
for those workers, too. But the long-term security of this Nation is 
wrapped up in our schools, and that is why this tax cut for teachers is 
such an important one now.
  This tax cut is a chance to really help our children by making sure 
we put good teachers in their classrooms and keep them there. It is 
also a chance to help our deserving teachers. It is the fastest, surest 
way to put more money into their pockets immediately.
  Finally, this is a chance for the Senate, for the entire Congress, to 
say thank you to our teachers.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Kansas is 
recognized.

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