Dana Berge

Opinion contributor

When I became an educator in 2012, I never thought the profession I chose would lead to me sleeping in my car. But that’s exactly what happened in one of my first years of teaching, when my public educator salary fell short and I had to list my own apartment on Airbnb just to keep up with the bills.

I still advertise my apartment for temporary visitors. Many, many times I had to stay with my parents or on friends' couches, but on one occasion that wasn't an option, so my Chevy Sonic had to suffice. I slept in my car catching whatever rest I could in the safest place I could think of — the parking lot of Pascual LeDoux Academy, the Denver public school where I teach early childhood education.

I was studying for my master’s degree. I’m a good teacher. And still, that is where I ended up.

Teachers need a living wage

My union, the 3 million-member National Education Association (NEA), annually publishes data on teacher salary. Each year, the data shows the same thing: Starting teacher salaries are too low. But ask any teacher and you’ll find we don’t need a report to tell us that. It’s apparent in the home of one of my colleagues who has six roommates, or the teachers I know who leave school each day to go wait tables.

About 18% of public school teachers had to work multiple jobs in the 2015-16 school year to make ends meet, according to a recent report from the National Center for Education Statistics. This is on top of the weighty expectations of teaching, our primary career, that are so demanding, so time consuming and so important. And the problem isn’t getting any better.

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My daughter's teacher is on strike. As a mom, I stand on the picket line with her.

In Denver, my colleagues and I knew we could not continue to live and thrive like this. That's why we went on strike earlier this year. Without a raise, I would be forced to either move away from my family and the community that raised me for a place where I could afford to teach, or I would have to leave the profession. Some of my fellow educators who wanted to strike were also terrified of the prospect of losing even a single day of pay and the harm that would cause to their families.

My mind kept coming back to that night I spent in the school parking lot. Perhaps I should have been worried about my safety as a young woman sleeping in her car alone overnight. But like every teacher on most nights, my brain was spinning about my students. I was worried about some who were starting to shut down or act out. Did they have a safe place to eat and sleep at night? Are my students ready for their next challenge? How can I better serve my students' families? Am I being as equitable as possible as a teacher?

Those are the things our educators should be worried about. When we’re forced into moonlighting, stressing about how we’ll feed our families, or even sleeping in our cars, that takes our attention away from the students we serve.

The situation is especially dire for younger educators. NEA’s data shows that the national average starting salary for teachers in the 2017-18 school year was less than $40,000.

The impact is painfully obvious: Educators aren’t earning the pay we deserve, and the pay gap between educators and other professionals is vast. In fact, an Economic Policy Institute (EPI) report released last week shows teachers are paid 21.4% less than comparably educated peers in other professions.

When kitchen table economics leave qualified teachers with no choice but to exit, teacher shortages enter. Another EPI report from March indicates the national teacher shortage is growing quickly — especially in high-poverty areas. This leads to instability in our schools and can undermine students’ ability to learn.

A 2007 analysis found the annual cost of turnover to be more than $7 billion. After inflation, researchers recently estimated that cost to be more than $8 billion a year. That’s money that would be better spent in our classrooms.

Educators take to the street — and voting booth

The current presidential contenders are advancing their own teacher pay proposals, but national politicians aren’t the first to understand that we have a real problem on our hands.

This year, New Mexico Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham rolled out a budget plan that would increase starting teacher salaries to $41,000 a year. Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, signed into law an increase in starting teacher salaries to $40,000, up from $35,800.

“By increasing starting teacher pay, we are sending a clear signal to our teachers and those considering a career in education that we appreciate and value them,” Little said.

On the campaign trail, Little and Grisham both promised to improve teacher pay. They won their elections by healthy margins.

Conversely, 11 Republican incumbents in Oklahoma’s statehouse lost their primary or runoff races after voting against raising teacher pay. Former Oklahoma state Rep. Jeff Coody even said that the teachers’ demands for a wage that makes teaching a sustainable profession were “akin to extortion.” He lost his reelection.

The losses in Oklahoma came, of course, after educators in the state took to the streets to demand better pay and better learning conditions for their students. The unsustainable status quo is being challenged all over the country. Educators have rallied, walked out, or gone on strike in both red and blue states.

And we have the support of our communities, with 78% of public school parents saying they would support teachers in their community if they went on strike for higher pay, according to a 2018 poll.

Educators shouldn’t have to struggle as I have, parking outside the view of security cameras to sleep at night. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a candidate, an elected official. It doesn’t matter whether you care about policy, or politics. Raising educator pay is the smartest thing you can do. It’s time to lead as if your grade — with educators and voters — depends on it.

Dana Berge is a public school teacher at Pascual LeDoux Academy in Denver. She is a state delegate for the Southwest region of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association and a member of the union's bargaining team.