Teacher’s salary does not increase more than 50% until the end – 05/17/2023 – Education

During their entire career, the salary of a teacher in the country’s state systems does not exceed, on average, 50% of what they earned when entering the profession. The little possibility of improvement in remuneration is the result of the absence of policies that value the experience, training and academic advancement of professionals.

The data is from a survey carried out by the Teaching Profession Movement with information from the state departments of Education in September last year. The study points out that, although the starting salary has advanced in recent years, there has been a flattening of the career. That is, there is no prediction of salary evolution over the years for teachers.

Since the creation of the national floor in 2008, the starting salary of state school teachers has been improving continuously. This advance, however, is not accompanied by improvements in earnings throughout their careers.

Thus, the difference in salary paid to beginners and those at the top of the career becomes very small or even non-existent.

According to the survey, in 19 units of the federation, the highest possible amount of remuneration is up to 50% higher than at the beginning of the career. The average salary range in the country is 48%.

In two states, Santa Catarina and Sergipe, the study does not indicate any variation. A Sheet questioned the two governments, but did not receive a response until publication.

“You can’t expect a motivated teacher without career breadth. Paying the same salary as someone just starting out in the profession means disregarding the experience, the knowledge that the teacher acquires in the classroom. It’s very demotivating”, says Haroldo Rocha, coordinator of the Teaching Profession.

In addition to demotivation, the lack of prospects for better salaries also leads teachers to leave state schools. With no real pay rise for more than a decade, teacher Paola Costa, 35, decided to leave the classroom last year.

“In ten years as a teacher in the state, I received a salary late, I spent years with frozen salaries. The best thing that can happen is to receive the inflation adjustment on top of a salary that is very low”, says Paola, who worked at the state network of Rio Grande do Sul.

“I love teaching, I love being with the students, but I couldn’t continue without harming my health. The salary is low, the workload is excessive and without the minimum adequate conditions. It’s a very cruel sum for the teacher. “, it says. She left teaching to work in the field of communication.

According to the survey, of the states that promote some type of salary improvement during their careers, nine use only length of service as a criterion for evolution. Academic titles and continuing education activities are also considered as criteria.

“The combination of these various factors is important to encourage teachers. Evolution over time is important to enhance the experience acquired in the classroom, but using qualifications and training courses is also interesting to motivate them to improve themselves”, says Rocha .

For him, the limit on expenses with civil servants, imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Law (LRF), leads managers to prioritize the salary increase of the teaching floor to attract new professionals to the detriment of valuing more experienced professionals.

“Teaching is the framework that quantitatively weighs most on personnel spending in all federated entities. In states and municipalities, between 35% and 50% of employees are teachers, so readjustments and increases in this category have a great impact on the budget “, he explains.

“On the one hand, the manager needs to comply with the teaching floor law. On the other hand, the LRF halts the commitment of the public servants’ sheet. There are two laws that are incompatible and the result is that managers end up prioritizing increasing the starting salary.”

Although some states have a high salary range, as is the case of Ceará, São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul, where the salary at the top of the career can more than double, few professionals reach this condition.

In São Paulo, for example, 89% of state school teachers received less than R$5,000 in 2021.

“The government says that we can earn up to BRL 13,000, but it doesn’t allow for that. I’ve been working for five years in state schools in São Paulo, but I only manage to be hired on a temporary basis because they don’t take public exams. In other words, I’m always earning the minimum”, says Ana Paula Silva, an English teacher in São Paulo.

São Paulo went nine years without opening public tenders for hiring new teachers — a new public notice was opened last Thursday (11). As a result, almost half (44.6%) of the network’s 216,800 teachers have temporary contracts. That is, without the possibility of all career developments.

“It’s no use promising high salaries when they are unattainable. That’s why many colleagues end up qualifying to get a job at a private school, where experience and knowledge are valued”, says Ana Paula.