No teacher reaches top salary in SP – 07/07/2023 – Educação

No teacher managed to reach the top salary promised in the teaching career plan of the Government of São Paulo. Created in 2009 with the promise of valuing the profession, the plan has requirements that in practice make it impossible to achieve the highest expected remuneration.

Data were obtained through the Access to Information Law by Gepud (Public School and Democracy Group) and Repu (Public School and University Network). The information refers to salaries for May 2022.

Even with a model that prevents the promised progression, this plan is still more financially advantageous to the oldest teachers in the network than the new career approved in 2022 by the then governor João Doria (without a party).

The analysis led the researchers to warn that, in the richest state in the country, there is no career plan that guarantees the appreciation of teachers. For them, one of the results of this is the chronic lack of teachers, which has worsened in recent years in schools in São Paulo.

Still according to those responsible for the study, the situation can be reversed if the Tarcísio de Freitas administration (Republicans) promotes regulation of the new career plan that allows salary progression and actually starts to apply 30% of state revenues to education —a rule that has been violated in São Paulo for more than two decades.

In a note, the State Department of Education says that it is studying measures for the salary appreciation of teachers, such as the resumption of the performance progression test that has not been carried out since 2018.

The old plan, in which most teachers are included, is composed of eight salary ranges, each with eight levels. The higher the range and level, the higher the pay. The data show, however, that no teacher managed to reach the last three ranges —in which salaries exceed R$ 7,000.

Of the more than 214,000 teachers working in state schools in São Paulo, 47% were in the first range and level, that is, with the lowest salary. At this stage, the expected remuneration is R$ 2,843.51 – an amount that had to be complemented by more than R$ 1,000 per allowance for the state to respect the national wage floor.

“National and international studies for years have shown that salary appreciation during a teacher’s career is one of the most important factors to improve educational results. The richest state in the country ignores this evidence by creating a plan that is unfeasible”, explains Andreza Barbosa , researcher at Repu and specialist in teaching.

For the researchers, the established rules for progression prevent teachers from reaching the maximum value. For example, the minimum time required to advance from one level/track to another ranged from four to six years, so that it is impossible for teachers to reach the end of their career before retirement.

Another impediment is that one of the forms of career advancement depends on the professor’s performance in a merit verification test. For five years, the state government has not carried out the test, that is, it does not even give teachers a chance to receive a salary increase.

Without correcting the distortions in the 2009 plan, last year Doria’s administration created a new teaching career. The researchers, however, assess that the new model goes against the grain of what studies on valuation recommend, since it does not provide for gratuity for length of service.

“It is a career plan that does not value the trajectory of the teacher. The idea of ​​a career presupposes valuing the permanence of the professional in the workplace. Without this bonus for length of service, the government does not encourage the permanence of teachers in the public network”, says Andrea.

By disregarding teachers’ working time in the salary composition, the new plan has received little adherence from effective professionals and who have been in the network for a longer time. The period for joining the new career began in June 2022 and continues until 2024.

The data obtained by the researchers show that, until October last year, only 1,842 permanent professors had chosen to migrate to the new career —which represents about 1% of the total number of professionals in this category. Furthermore, 85% of those who migrated have been in the network for less than 10 years.

Most of those covered by the new plan are temporary teachers, who were compulsorily migrated to the model.

“For those who are starting now in the state network, the new plan is more interesting since the initial remuneration is higher. The problem is that this professional does not have a great possibility of progression throughout his career. That is, it does not guarantee conditions for this teacher is motivated to continue in the teaching network”, says Andreza.

In a note, the Department of Education said that Tarcísio’s management assumed the “commitment to recognize and value teaching activity” and cited as a measure the opening of a competition to hire 15,000 new teachers.

Asked about actions to enhance teachers’ remuneration, the folder only said that it is studying the return of the merit progression test and pending regulations and possible corrections in the new teaching career.