TORRANCE – Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), chair of the Assembly Education Committee, together with leaders of the California Federation of Teachers (CFT), rallied support for Assembly Bill 477, the Fair Pay for Educators Act. This bill proposes state funding targets to increase school funding and to increase teacher and classified school employee salaries by 50 percent over the next decade. The goal of this measure is to increase California’s statewide education funding and closing the pay gap between teachers and college graduates in other professions.
Specifically, AB 477 would set Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) funding targets to increase the LCFF base grant by 50 percent over a 10-year period, with the goal of raising teacher and classified staff salaries by 50 percent by the 2036-37 school year.
“The Trump administration is attacking public education and defunding our schools. California must fight back to defend our students, educators, and schools,” said Muratsuchi. “California is the world’s fifth largest economy. We need to invest in our students and our educators to support student success and grow a globally competitive workforce. Our teachers and essential school staff have been underpaid for far too long. It’s time for California to start paying its educators a fair wage.”
“At a time when the Trump administration is threatening billions of dollars in federal funding for public schools in California, AB 477 represents a commitment by our state that we will be there for our students and for those who serve them every day in our schools,” said CFT President Jeff Freitas.
Research underscores that low salaries are a major deterrent to entering the teaching profession. Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of college students who are not considering teaching cite low pay as the top reason. Furthermore, studies indicate that teachers earn 26.6 percent less than comparable college graduates, highlighting the urgent need to close the pay gap and make teaching a more financially sustainable career.
