It’s no secret that teachers are underpaid throughout the U.S., but one teacher’s recent TikTok highlights just how bad things have gotten, especially now that inflation has impacted the cost of everything.
The video was shared by Alexis Longcrier, who, according to Distractify, is an English teacher in Fort Worth, Texas, by day. But by night, she hops in her car and delivers pizzas for Domino’s, not because she wants to but because she has to.
“I’m a full-time teacher,” Longcrier said in the video, sitting in her car wearing her Domino’s uniform. “And here it is, 8 o’clock, and I’m delivering pizzas. I’m doing this because I can’t survive on my teacher paycheck.”
According to USAFacts.org, the average public school teacher salary in the U.S. was $65,090 in 2021, an increase of only 1.49% (or $957) from 2020. This is part of the reason why many teachers have fled the profession in the last three years, as COVID placed extra pressure on teachers already underpaid and under strain.