Hampton Roads school divisions put one thing at the crux of their budget proposals for next fiscal year: teachers’ pay. As educators leave the profession and as wages struggle to keep up with inflation, divisions are hoping to find and keep teachers with higher starting salaries and competitive pay scales.
Despite the budgetary focus, new reports from the National Education Associations show Virginia teachers making less than the national average even as state averages have increased.
“It’s like every time they get a pay raise, it gets eaten up by increases in their rent or increases in their groceries,” said Del. Shelly Simonds…