The minimum wage is an important and contentious aspect of modern economic life. But whether you believe it needs to go up or be eliminated altogether, an important question to ask is, "Why does it exist at all?"

About the Author:

Mary Kate Lonergan teaches 8th grade Social Studies at Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District in New York. She empowers students to critically engage with media and information by making media literacy the heartbeat of her Social Studies curriculum. Mary Kate has developed and implemented media and digital literacy professional development courses and has presented at conferences from the national to local levels. She is a KQED Media Literacy Innovator, serves as a Teacher Collaborator with Ithaca College's Project Look Sharp, and is a faculty member of the Media Education Lab’s Summer Institute in Digital Literacy.