Significant number of Colorado teachers work 2 jobs

Teachers are three times more likely to work a second job than the average American, according to the Bureau of Labor statistics.

In newly released data from the National Center for Education, more than a sixth of all teachers in the U.S. took on multiple jobs during the 2015-2016 school year. Those numbers have stayed relatively the same since 2007, when the Department of Education began tracking the information.

We talked to officials at the Colorado Education Association who say those statistics don’t surprise them either. They say the majority of Colorado teachers are working two, and sometimes three, jobs just to make ends meet.

The CEA points to public school funding as the root of the issue. Amie Baca-Oehlert, President of the CEA, said the Colorado education system is funded below the national average, despite having one of the strongest economies in the country.

Last April, thousands of educators from across the state gathered outside of the state capitol in Denver to protest low wages and cuts to benefits.

Jennifer Jefferson, a kindergarten teacher at Jordahl Elementary in Fountain, also works as a waitress at the Warehouse in downtown Colorado Springs. She says she needs her second job so she can afford student loan payments.

“For me personally, I’m six years in and I have a master’s [degree], and I’m still working a second job,” said Jefferson. She says her passion for teaching keeps her jumping through hoops to make it work:.

“You’re making a difference every single day, and how many people can say that about their job?”