Waiting tables, babysitting, even selling their own blood are some of the ways that American teachers have been making money to compensate for salaries they say are not enough to make ends meet.

"We live paycheck-to-paycheck. We're paid once a month ... Sometimes we have to ask our son to pay his college tuition," said Lucy Soriano, a public school teacher in Los Angeles.

Soriano and her husband, who is also a teacher, are among the estimated 16 percent of the US teachers who seek additional work on the side.

TRT World's Mary MacCarthy has more from Los Angeles.