Bill seeks P50,000 entry-level salary for public school teachers

A bill granting a P50,000 entry-level salary for public school teachers has been proposed in the House of Representatives.

Makabayan bloc lawmakers France Castro of ACT Teachers party-list, Arlene Brosas of Gabriela party-list and Raoul Manuel of Kabataan partylist made the proposal under House Bill 9920.

“This bill proposes substantial salary increases for public school teachers to close the gap between their salaries and the cost of living. It will also address the distortion created by the doubling of entry-level pay of military and uniformed personnel,” the authors said.

“It also proposes the annual adjustment of salaries to ensure that these keep pace with the cost of living,” they added.

The lawmakers said that the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) of 2019 has failed to address the disparity of the salaries between the low and middle-level salary grades who comprise majority of the civil service such as teachers, and those in the managerial levels and especially of top officials.

“Despite the salary adjustment, the monthly pay of even mid-level personnel like public school teachers (Salary Grade 11) estimated to be about 803,272 individuals occupying Teacher 1 to Teacher 3 positions remains insufficient to meet the family living wage of P33,570 per month. This [amount] is the ideal for a family of five to have a decent and humane condition of living,” the lawmakers argued.

In contrast, the lawmakers said top government officials under Salary Grade 31 to 33, including members of the Cabinet and Congress and the President, are given annual increases of around P5,000 up to P7,762.

The disparity, they argued, was also worsened by the fact that the Duterte administration doubled the salaries of police and the military.

“Teachers are given increases of a little over P6,000 spread across four years, or about P1,500 annually. They might not bear arms, but they are professionals with qualifications higher than police and soldiers,” the lawmakers pointed out.

Teachers, the lawmakers noted, cannot enter and remain in the service without the training and fortitude required of the daily and myriad battles in public education.

“It must never be alleged that their qualifications, training, and fortitude are less than those of the police and the military. Indeed, how far can P27,000 take a Teacher 1 and his or her family at a time when fuel prices rise almost weekly? It must be stressed that this level of pay of the main frontliners of education professionals who went through long years of academic and practical training amounts to less than the family living wage,” they said.

“No wonder most teachers would rather work abroad despite the risks and hazards to cam almost thrice or eight times the entry-level salary.  Indeed, there is an urgent need for salary increases for public school teachers, along with other government employees. For these reasons, immediate approval of this bill is sought,” the lawmakers added. — BM, GMA Integrated News