On the recordMay 27, 2010
I rise today to introduce legislation designed to increase tax fairness for America's primary and secondary school teachers. Our public school teachers are some of the unheralded heroes of our society. These women and men dedicate their careers to educating the young people of America. School teachers labor in often difficult and even dangerous circumstances. In most places, including in my home state of Utah, the salary of the average public school teacher is significantly below the national average. For a variety of economic and organizational reasons, schools across the nation are experiencing difficulties in recruiting teachers-- especially in the fields of math and science. There are at least two sources to this problem. First, schools are experiencing high levels of turnover related to retirement, relocation, and attrition. Second, there is an insufficient supply of new qualified math and science teachers coming in to the schools to compensate for the turnover. As a result of these factors, 31 percent of secondary schools across the nation report difficulties in filling math and science faculty positions.
