Gov. McMaster’s plan to increase SC teacher salaries doesn’t go far enough

No speech or press release spells out a politician’s priorities as clearly as a proposed budget.

Each line item detailing how much and where money will be spent sets the tone for what matters most.

So, consider one very specific item in Gov. Henry McMaster’s proposed spending plan, released Monday before the State Legislature returned.

Our reporter Joe Bustos noted that “McMaster’s budget includes more money for raising pay for some teachers in the state, bringing the state starting salary to $38,000 from $36,000. However, a $2,000 raise wouldn’t be mandated for school districts already above the proposed minimum. The raise is part of the additional $120 million McMaster wants to send to public schools in the budget, while also giving school districts flexibility in how to spend the money, but also requiring more transparency on where dollars go.”

According to the National Education Association, the average national starting teacher salary for 2019-2020 was $41,163 and when Business Insider ranked the 10 states with the lowest teacher salaries South Carolina came right in at number 10.

McMaster also proposed a $2,000 bonus for school bus drivers, a profession that continues to experience shortages.

“Superintendent (Molly) Spearman is appreciative of the support Governor McMaster has shown through his executive budget towards increasing teacher and bus driver salaries — two positions facing critical shortages in our state,” Ryan Brown, spokesman for the Department of Education told Bustos. “We now look forward to working with the members of the General Assembly to bring funding for these priorities and others to fruition.”

But what does it say about our priorities as a state when we can’t even increase teachers’ salaries to reach the national average?

What does it say about our commitment to the profession given McMaster’s comment that he wants “the best teachers in the classroom?”

Wallethub routinely ranks states based on factors such as livability, education, safety and so on.

In 2021, South Carolina found itself ranked number 42 overall for education, though under quality of education the ranking dropped to 48 out of 50.

Our goal, of course, isn’t to just move up the rankings, but to truly produce a population of educated young people capable of not merely surviving but thriving in the years to come.

That effort involves many factors, but offering teachers the chance to actually do what they love and share their expertise, while making a decent salary in the process, is key.

We urge our legislators to go beyond Gov. McMaster’s recommendations, consider national salary trends and offer the starting salaries that our teachers deserve.

This story was originally published January 11, 2022 at 9:50 AM.