June 21, 2001 — The V.I. Education Department’s search for teachers will be a difficult one as long as starting salaries remain low, a union official said Wednesday.
Education’s human resources department will hold interviews this week on St. Croix and next week on St. Thomas for people interested in teaching in the territory’s public schools. But Tyrone Molyneaux, the president of the St. Croix chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, said the effort will likely be futile because of the starting salary offered by the department, which is about $24,800 a year.
"Until the entry-level starting salary becomes more attractive, it is difficult to recruit teachers," Molyneaux said, adding that those salaries should be in the $30,000 range.
Because of the low pay, Molyneaux said there may be problems for students getting instruction in required courses, particularly at the secondary level. In addition, he said the low pay has kept those trained to teach away from the profession in the territory. That has caused Education officials to turn to people without teaching credentials.
"We’re hiring teachers without the needed background and credentials," he said. "The standard of education is on a downward spiral."
But Sen. Norman Jn Baptiste, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, successfully attached an amendment to Gov. Charles Turnbull’s request for $10 million to pay salary step increases to government workers and eligible retirees. The amendment authorizes the governor to reopen negotiations with the St. Croix and St. Thomas-St. John AFT unions to increase entry-level salaries of public school teachers.
"We are in the process of addressing the issue," Jn Baptiste said.
Teachers should start at $26,000 or $27,000 a year, Jn Baptiste said. But if he is successful in the effort, then the salaries of teachers already in the system must also be adjusted accordingly.
Under the mediated contract agreed to by AFT members and the Turnbull administration, Molyneaux said teachers lost five years of salary and step increases, which equated to more than $50 million. By reopening negotiations to address starting salaries, Jn Baptiste said teachers will be included in the plan to pay government employees their raises by October.
"The AFT will now be able to regain what may have been lost in the last agreement with the government," Jn Baptiste said. "The teachers won’t be left out of the unfolding scenario."