Illinois' leftist governor signs bill to raise minimum teacher salaries to address non-existent shortage of educators

Striking Chicago teachers a few years ago

There is no teacher shortage in Illinois. Or in America. There are no teacher-less classrooms. If a teacher dies today there will be a substitute in that spot tomorrow and very quickly a full-time replacement.

But the public-sector unions have created a crisis, an imagined one, to drive up teacher salaries.

And liberals, such as Illinois' Democratic governor, play along with the phony narrative.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday signed a bill raising teachers’ minimum salary to $40,000 in an effort to address the “dire” statewide teacher shortage.

“As Illinois children head back to school this week and next, this new law says to them and their parents loud and clear: We value teachers,” Pritzker said. “In signing this legislation, we’re addressing our teacher shortage and gradually putting teachers on track to make at least $40,000 a year by the first day of school in 2023.”

Pritzker said current minimum salaries range from $9,000 to $11,000 and haven’t been raised "in decades."

"That outdated baseline allows many positions, particularly in rural communities, to be shortchanged," he said.

Show me one teacher in the United States who earns only $9,000-a-year. Of course the Sun-Times, which is partially-owned by the Chicago Federation of Labor, is incapable of challenging left-wing dogma.

And as Illinois' population continues to decline, arguably we need fewer teachers, not more.

Here's an idea: Why not hire retirees on a contract basis to teach? They'll bring real-life experience to the classroom and taxpayers won't have to kick in to their pensions.

And they may do a much better job teaching kids. And they might work for just $9,000-a-year.