Massachusetts educators are praising federal legislation to ensure public schoolteachers make a minimum of $60,000 a year.
Supporters say the Pay Teachers Act would help fill the more than 4,000 teacher vacancies statewide and ensure fully certified teachers are staffing schools.
Cory O’Hayer, a social studies teacher for Boston Public Schools, said educators are being punished for their career choice in helping some of the state’s most challenged kids.
“We come home exhausted only to have to work a side gig to make ends meet,” O’Hayer pointed out. “People aren’t walking away from the profession, they’re being priced out of it.”
The legislation would also provide teachers with a $1,000 annual stipend for classroom supplies, which they often pay for themselves. Opponents of a national minimum salary argued staff vacancies are best addressed at a local level, where school leadership can determine whether teachers stick around.
The legislation would also triple Title 1 funding to schools for children from low-income families, boost funding for rural school districts and invest more in special education personnel. Companion legislation would set a minimum salary of $45,000 a year for paraprofessionals and other support staff.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., called the workers the “backbone” of any school.
“I’ve heard from cafeteria workers who rely on SNAP to access healthy food, technology support staff who can’t afford Wi-Fi at home, paraeducators who can’t afford to send their child to college,” Markey outlined.
Markey argued it is unacceptable in the richest country in the world. He noted children make up just 20% of America’s population but remain 100% of America’s future, and stressed it is time to invest in the teachers and staff, who help ensure their success.
