The teacher pay penalty, Meta's major settlement, and a footwear flop

**Adrian Ma** (0:01)
N-P-R.

**Wailin Wong** (0:06)
This is The Indicator from Planet Money, I'm Waylon Wong.

**Ricky Mulvey** (0:09)
I'm Ricky Mulvey.

**Adrian Ma** (0:10)
And I'm Adrian Ma.

**Wailin Wong** (0:11)
And like the late, great Dolly Parton once saying, we have tumbled out of the bed and stumbled to the kitchen for...
Indicators of the Week. It is that day of the week where we talk about our favorite numbers from the news. On today's episode, teachers are truly doing their jobs for the love of the game.

**Adrian Ma** (0:32)
Massive, massive settlement news from Meta.

**Ricky Mulvey** (0:35)
And it seems like consumers are telling shoes to kick it.

**Adrian Ma** (0:41)
I see what you did there.

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**Adrian Ma** (1:48)
Waylon Wong, why don't you go first?

**Wailin Wong** (1:50)
All right, well, school is back in session, and so my indicator is thematically appropriate. It is 74.8 cents on the dollar. That is the average wage that public school teachers in the US earned in 2025 compared with similar college graduates working in other professions. 74.8 cents on the dollar. The data comes from the Economic Policy Institute, which is a left-leaning think tank that focuses on low and middle-income working families. And EPA economist Sylvia Allegretto published a report this week about what she calls the teacher pay penalty.

**Ricky Mulvey** (2:28)
I always knew public school teachers weren't making bank, but wow, they're doing this for the love of the game, Waylen.

**Wailin Wong** (2:34)
Truly. So Sylvia, the economist, looked at weekly wages because that accounts for teachers being off during the summers. She controlled for factors like age and location. And she found that people in other professions make around 25 percent more than teachers. And these other workers' wages have also kept up with inflation, whereas teachers' wages have not. And then even when you add in benefits like health insurance and retirement plans, teachers come out behind.

**Adrian Ma** (3:02)
Makes me think I should have been a better student to my teachers.

**Wailin Wong** (3:05)
Not eaten so much paste?

**Adrian Ma** (3:06)
I mean, somebody's got to.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:10)
That stuff is highly edible.

**Wailin Wong** (3:12)
Why would it be so delicious if you weren't supposed to eat it, right?
I don't even know if they have paste anymore in classrooms, but this analysis goes back to the late 70s, and the pay gap has always been there. The thing is, though, it's gotten worse. Like in 1996, teachers made 6% less than their peers in other professions. In 2024, they made 27% less. That's actually a record.
Economist Sylvia Allegretto says, this disparity has already taken a toll on recruiting and retaining teachers. Then you can imagine that has an effect on the quality of public education in the US. Yeah.

**Ricky Mulvey** (3:48)
You see so many stories. I see Instagram stories of teachers spending their own money on supplies for the classroom or asking family, friends, their network to contribute.

**Wailin Wong** (3:58)
Yeah. My middle schooler this year had to bring multiple containers of Kleenex and disinfected wipes and paper towels and stuff. Weirdly, she didn't bring a single notebook, I guess because everything's online, but literally not a single notebook in the backpack this year. I don't know what's happening.

**Ricky Mulvey** (4:13)
Wow. Well, at least I'm saving on my property taxes.
Adrienne Ma, you're next.

**Adrian Ma** (4:19)
My indicator is two hours. Two hours is the default limit on screen time. Teenagers would be allowed on Instagram and Facebook under the terms of a landmark settlement announced Wednesday.
It was announced by Meta and Attorneys General who've sued the company.

**Wailin Wong** (4:36)
Good luck enforcing that. Two hours is not very much time, actually, when you consider the amount of brain rot that we all engage in.