using the dollars that were put forward by the federal government. there was a teacher shortage before covid, but certainly things got a lot worse during covid. retirements jumped by more than 30% in some areas and right now some cities like memphis find themselves in a position where they need 200 teachers and schools just about to start and there s no applicants to be found. in may a lot of my h.r. colleagues throughout arizona were contacting me and informing me that they have zero applicants for their teacher jobs. they re worried this will be whatever is worse and severe was going to be happening this year. and of course, salary is a key factor. public school teachers make about $60,000 a year. back to you. martha: it s devastating. thanks very much. let s bring in marc thiessen, an american enterprise institute