News Update

Jill Biden calls on state legislators, governors to pay teachers more

First lady Jill Biden, in an interview aired Tuesday on CBS’s “Mornings,” called on state legislators and governors to increase teachers’ pay to reduce a nationwide teacher shortage.

“They have to give more money to teachers; it’s just the bottom line,” said Biden, a former public school teacher.

Biden was interviewed alongside the recipients of the 2020 and 2021 National Teacher of the Year awards. The awardees were honored by the president and first lady on Monday at the White House.

“The emotional labor, the physical labor, the amount of extra work and things we had to learn have not been fairly compensated,” said Tabatha Rosproy, a Kansas preschool teacher who was named 2020 National Teacher of the Year.