Public-school educators’ pay, benefits top Congress’ agenda for National Teachers’ Month

LAWMAKERS are urging Congress to put into the front burner two measures that will benefit about 800,000 public-school teachers: a bump up in their salaries, and making permanent their teaching supplies’ allowance.

Rep. LRay Villafuerte of Camarines Sur made this appeal as the Department of Education (DepEd) last week kicked-off the annual month-long celebration of National Teachers’ Month, which will run till October 5.

Villafuerte sought the swift Congressional approval of these two proposals after the Palace tasked the DepEd to study ways to further adjust public-school teachers’ pay over and above the wage increase that they receive annually under the Salary Standardization Law (SSL).

School year (SY) 2023-2024 opened for public schools on August 29, with the total number of registered students exceeding 24 million.

Villafuerte and three fellow “CamSur” representatives have authored House Bill (HB) 1851, which mandates a significant increase in the salary-grade level of public elementary and high-school teachers from Grade 11 to Grade 19 in the face of the rising inflation and cost of living.

Other co-authors of the bills include Reps. Miguel Luis Villafuerte and Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata from the same province.

They likewise authored HB 1849, which seeks to make permanent the school supplies’ allowance of P5,000 that public-school teachers have been entitled to during the pandemic to lessen their burden of coughing-up personal money to deliver education services during the hybrid learning system of face-to-face and remote or online teaching.

The latter bill further provides for a continuous increase in the annual allowance for teaching supplies throughout the succeeding academic years.

In HB 1851, the authors said their proposed salary upgrade shall be “differentiated in accordance with the five qualifications and length of service rendered by teachers and shall not be prejudiced by across-the-board salary adjustments.”

The bill mandates the national government to appropriate an amount necessary to carry out the proposed pay hike, and that the salary increase shall “take priority over other non-educational and non-agricultural budgetary allocations.”

It requires the DepEd to come up with a specific programmed budget needed to cover expenses for upgrading salary levels of all corresponding teachers’ plantilla positions for a period of at least five years “to allow the Department of Budget and Management [DBM] to make the necessary budgetary adjustments to facilitate the smooth implementation of this Act.”

HB 1851 states that the amount necessary to implement the pay hike plan shall be included in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for the year, following this bill’s enactment into law.

In HB 1849, the solons noted that one of the sectors that was severely suffered during the pandemic is education, and that “with the closure of schools, students and teachers were forced to resort to alternative learning methods to ensure continuity of learners’ education.”

For them, the predicament “has compelled our teachers, especially those in public basic education, to shoulder additional expenses for Internet connectivity, electronic gadgets, and other necessary materials, among other concerns.”

They recalled that, recognizing the teacher’s predicament, the DepEd and DBM issued Joint Circular 2 implementing Special Provision 11 in the 2021 GAA on cash allowance for school teachers in basic education.

Joint Circular 2 entitled teachers to each receive a maximum of P5,000 as cash allowance for the purchase of teaching materials and supplies, as well as for expenses incurred on Internet access, communications, and their annual medical examination.

However, the said circular only covered an allowance for a limited duration for teachers still enduring the pandemic’s continued effects, according to the bill’s authors.

Hence, their proposal to provide added financial relief to public-school teachers by making the temporary allowance a permanent one, and with a provision for a steady increase in amount in succeeding SYs.

HB 1849 institutionalizes a tax-free allowance for the purchase of teaching supplies and materials to implement various learning-delivery modalities in the amount of P5,000 per teacher for SY 2023-2024 and SY 2024-2025; P7,500 per teacher for SY 2025-2026; and P10,000 per teacher for SY 2026-2027 and thereafter.

The bill states that the amount necessary for granting the said allowance to teachers shall be charged against the DepEd’s appropriations under the annual GAA.

It directs the DepEd secretary to conduct a periodic review of this annual allowance, “taking into account the current prices of teaching supplies and materials and, if warranted, recommend the necessary increase in the amount of the allowance.”

According to the proponents of the twin measures, the low salary rates of around 800,000 public-school teachers have “caused disincentivization to improve their skills and pursue further education and training. This situation also makes the teaching profession unattractive to the youth, especially to the ‘cream of the crop’ graduates from top colleges and universities in the country.”

“Moreover, labor groups and teacher associations have been lobbying for years to increase teachers’ [salaries] by upgrading their salary grade,” the solons further noted.

According to them, their two bills aim to attract more students to the education sector, while incentivizing teachers to further upskill as they strive for excellence in their field, eventually leading to an increase in the public-education system’s quality.