Educators and students across the country have headed back to school. But a new study finds more and more teachers are struggling as the gap widens between what they’re paid and what they could be making in other lines of work. A report out today from the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute shows, on average, U.S. teachers make about 24 percent less than professionals with similar levels of education who work in other fields. The report shows the pay gap began growing in late 1990s as wages in other labor markets were increasing, but education wasn’t keeping up. (whole story)
WXPR
September 6, 2018
Wages and compensation for public school teachers in the U.S. have eroded over the past two decades relative to other comparable professions, according to new research. The liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute released a paper on the topic on Wednesday, noting that teacher pay took center stage earlier this year in strikes by educators in states including West Virginia, Oklahoma and Arizona. (whole story)
Route Fifty
September 6, 2018
Arizona teachers make 36 percent less than comparable workers in other professions, according to the Economic Policy Institute. It’s the largest teacher-pay gap in the nation. In other words, if you’re willing to pay for four (or six or eight) years of college in Arizona, you’ll probably make a lot more doing anything else other than teaching. (whole opinion)
Arizona Republic
September 6, 2018
A new report from the Economic Policy Institute shows that the gap between wages for teachers and wages for other college graduates has grown to its highest-ever levels. According to the report, wages for American teachers are now 18.7 percent below the wages of their college-educated peers in other industries. This teacher wage penalty has grown substantially: the teacher wage penalty was just 1.8 percent in 1994, but has since grown to a record 18.7 percent in 2017. (whole post)
The Progressive Pulse
September 6, 2018
With “sloppily applied tariffs” as the centerpiece of the administration’s trade policy, “we can expect to get all of the pain from higher import prices but little of the gain” that would come from a more strategic levying of duties, said Thea Mei Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington. (Thea quoted throughout)
USA Today
September 6, 2018
Tariffs newly implemented under Trump, however, affect only 0.1 percent of the U.S. economy, said Thea Lee, president of the liberal Economic Policy Institute, during the committee hearing. Tariffs to be potentially implemented in the coming months and years would total only about 0.8 percent of GDP at most, even assuming that tariffs apply to all motor vehicles and parts, she said. Lee and Heritage Foundation distinguished visiting fellow Stephen Moore agreed during the hearing, however, that the Trump administration’s trade policy has been largely incoherent, but Moore expressed optimism that the short-term pain wrought by tariffs will ultimately yield long-term gain.
American Shipper
September 6, 2018
“The Trump administration’s tariffs have been erratically implemented, inconsistently messaged and sometimes apparently motivated by politics or whim. Rather than seeking to coordinate a comprehensive and coherent strategy in conjunction with our allies and complementary to our domestic policies, this administration appears to have no overarching strategy or goal in sight,” said Thea Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank affiliated with the labor movement. The approach will mean Americans “can expect to get all of the pain from higher import prices, but little of the gain” through increased exports, jobs and domestic production, she added.
Automotive News
September 6, 2018
Today is Labor Day, a holiday meant to honor workers’ many contributions to American society. But what about the other 364 days a year? Wages are stagnant. Inequality continues to soar. The economy is growing, but the bulk of U.S. workers get mere scraps from the bonanza. Plenty of this is due to decades of bad macroeconomic policy. But a lot of it is also because of failed rules in the labor market. Those rules can also be repaired. (The Economic Policy Institute has written a helpful paper detailing specific fixes.) (Features FDF themes throughout)
The Week
September 5, 2018
If only more companies shared the wealth. Instead, most U.S. workers aren’t benefiting from higher corporate profits, said Heidi Shierholz, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank that advocates for working people. She cites several corporate practices and government policies that have sapped power from workers. Mandatory arbitration in job disputes and non-compete agreements are becoming common, even among middle-income earners and some fast-food employees. Rules to expand overtime pay were stopped and the minimum wage’s value has eroded steadily. (Heidi quoted throughout)
The Dallas Morning News
September 5, 2018
The Hill
September 5, 2018