MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Sarah Casey, a fourth-grade teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland, works as a nanny for a family in Carroll County during the week and seats customers at a local pizza restaurant on weekends. She commutes 40 miles daily to her teaching job from her home in Carroll County.

Ms. Casey spends $160 on gasoline every two weeks. Inflation rose 4.2% in May 2026 from a year earlier, marking the highest level in three years. She is scheduled to marry in September 2026.

The average salary for public school teachers increased by 3.5% to $74,495 in the 2024-25 school year, up from $71,985 in the 2023-24 school year, according to an NEA report. Adjusted for inflation, public school teachers earn about 5% less now than they did 10 years ago.

James Foster, a high school social studies teacher, said, "I remember when I was planning for $25,000 a year for my daughter (to attend college) and now it's more than double that."

For the 2020-21 school year, 16% of full-time public school teachers worked a nonschool job over the summer, according to Pew Research. About 30% of teachers reported working outside jobs during the school year in the 2026 State of the American Teacher survey by Rand. Teachers working these additional jobs during the school year averaged about 13 hours per week.

Michael Hansen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Brown Center on Education Policy, said, "But I've now seen enough new evidence that has made me reconsider that position and I am convinced that working conditions are getting worse for teachers." He added, "Summer work seems like an issue that school district employers probably have little real concern for."