Poll: Half of Americans say they’d pay higher taxes to increase teacher salaries

Half of Americans say in a new poll they would pay higher taxes to give teachers raises in the wake of a series of strikes across the country. 

An Associated Press–NORC poll, conducted April 11–16, found that roughly a quarter of Americans say they would oppose such a tax increase, and 23 percent neither favor nor oppose such a plan. The poll found that nearly 70 percent of Democrats would support the tax increase, compared to roughly 40 percent of Republicans.

More than three-quarters of Americans, 78 percent, believe teachers are underpaid. Respondents placed significant blame for low teacher wages on unions and state and local governments, according to the poll.

Fifty-two percent of people, meanwhile, approve of recent teacher strikes to protest low wages and rising insurance costs.

The poll surveyed 1,140 adults and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

The survey results come as Arizona teachers are set to launch a statewide walkout this week in protest of low pay. Teachers in the state make an average salary of $48,372, among the lowest in the nation.

Teachers have gone on strike in recent weeks in West Virginia, Kentucky and Oklahoma in a push for better school funding, pay and benefits.