Recent polling conducted by the AP, New York Times, and NPR overwhelmingly concluded that most Americans believe teachers are underpaid. If this is the case, why hasn’t there been the political will to increase teacher pay? Legislators, school district leaders, and school board members across the state have been wrestling with this question for years. Just last week, Gov. Henry McMaster proposed raising the average teacher salary in South Carolina by 5 percent. That increase will take the state average to $53,185.
While the increase is a positive step in the right direction and places our state average in line with other states such as Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida, I would suggest that the 5 percent increase should be treated more like a 5 percent correction or cost of living adjustment. The real increase should still be on the table and debated statewide. When you factor in the increasing cost of living — housing, health care, etc. — without this 5 percent adjustment, teacher salaries have actually decreased over the past several years.
We shouldn’t assume that teacher pay is the only reason teachers leave the profession. In many instances, teachers are placed in classrooms with too many students, presenting a task that would be difficult for even a seasoned, high performing teacher. In an effort to squeeze as much as they can out of the per pupil allotment, districts increase class size. A second reason teachers leave is due to the lack of support from the leadership at their school. Many principals would love to spend more time in the classroom mentoring their teachers, but operational and reporting demands of running a school often eat up a majority of their time. Principals wear multiple hats, and instructional leader is just one of those. Teachers may also leave because of student behavioral issues, excessive paperwork and reporting, as well as limited planning time. A friend who teaches in an urban school in New York shared with me that he spends 70 percent of his instructional time redirecting student behavior and simply trying to manage the classroom. I have several friends who are teachers in the Lowcountry and in other states, and half of them have said they haven’t had a real planning period in 10 years.
Every citizen in this country, regardless of whether we have a child who is attending a public school should be responsible for ensuring that their teachers are paid a competitive wage. The federal government could fund all 3.2 million teachers at an average salary of $60,000. This would cost less than $200 billion annually. Local and state taxes would no longer be the primary source of funding, easing tax burdens and allowing increased flexibility for local governments to invest in other important initiatives. That $200 billion price tag is the equivalent of about one quarter of what we spend on military spending and is one tenth of the cost of President Trump’s recent tax bill.
The idea of a federal minimum teacher salary could reset the national discussion around teacher compensation and help re-prioritize how we value the profession. Many teachers are forced to work second jobs to get by and many work well over 40 hours a week, when you combine the take-home work and volunteering for after school and weekend events. With the partisanship that exists in our country right now, this is an example of an issue that Democrats and Republicans can rally around. To do anything less for our children, given what we know about the global economy and our need to compete, would be both immoral and shortsighted from an economic standpoint.
If the idea of a federal minimum teacher salary paid for by taxpayers is too radical or politicians can’t muster the political will, then it is important that states and local municipalities step up and work with the federal government to pass legislation that at least mandates minimum contributions at all levels of government, local, state, and national.
In South Carolina, revenue from property taxes once provided a large majority of funding for school districts but in recent years, several laws have been enacted that eliminate school operations taxes in their entirety for all owner occupied residential property owners. A large majority of current revenues come from the state sales tax, lottery revenue, and taxes on second home and business owners. Depending on the economy and various external factors, sales tax revenues can be unpredictable which impedes a school district’s ability to set sound, long term budgets.
While most people agree on the idea of a salary increase, we shouldn’t have a conversation about teacher compensation without first acknowledging some of the other funding challenges we face as a state and community. How we pay for the increases and where the funds originate are important questions that should be addressed. It is vitally important that parents, district leaders, business owners, and teachers continue pushing for reform and in this case, send a resounding message to the governor’s office that the increase is appreciated, but it doesn’t do enough for our teachers.
Jason Sakran is founder and co-owner of Bon Banh Mi Southeast Asian Kitchen as well as director for Expanded Learning (Kaleidoscope) for Charleston County School District.
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