TEXT ON SCREEN (0:07)
What is the impact of low teacher salaries on schools and on students?
DAVID GRIFFITH (0:11)
Low teacher salaries impact the ability to staff schools, the ability to recruit teachers into them, the ability to retain teachers, and the ability to boost the quality of our educator force. It’s a widespread issue and problem. We value what we pay for, we pay for what we value. And so we need to increase teacher compensation to reflect the importance in the value of teachers to not only to their students and their communities, but to the nation at large.
TEXT ON SCREEN (0:53)
What role can principals play in increasing teacher compensation?
DAVID GRIFFITH (0:58)
Principals can play a really, I think, important and influential role in talking about and advocating for and affecting increases in teacher pay and compensation. Our principals have been advocates for enhancing the profession, increasing the visibility and reputation of teachers and educators. We have been working at the federal and state roles to, again, affect a lot of different strategies to increase compensation, whether it be loan forgiveness, whether it be retention bonuses, whether it be increasing minimum starting salaries, whether it is giving compensation for additional opportunities for teachers to take leadership roles. All of those things are on the table, and all of those things are things that principals are supporting and advocating for, for their staffs.
TEXT ON SCREEN (1:48)
What approaches to increasing teacher compensation does NAESP support?
DAVID GRIFFITH (1:51)
In terms of teacher compensation, NAESP supports loan forgiveness, both public service loan forgiveness, that program, the temporary waivers that the Biden Administration had put in place, but also legislation to increase the cap on the existing program, and to include early childhood educators along with educators, and then school leaders also in that program. The cost of higher education is getting ever higher, and we’re seeing that our teachers coming into the classroom have higher debt burdens than ever before. And this is a way to address their financial constraints in a way that it benefits them and the schools they serve.