Va. teacher pay gets a boost in budget, but it’s still projected to fall short of national average
by Nathaniel Cline, Virginia Mercury
Legislation that would have aligned Virginia teachers’ pay with the national average or higher by the 2027-28 school year won bipartisan support but was blocked from the state budget by Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s veto last week.
The two-year budget, signed last week, includes $540 million to help pay for 3% salary increases for teachers and state employees in both years.
The governor said he supported the goal of “ensuring that teachers and state-funded education support positions are funded competitively,” but didn’t approve the bill to boost educators’ salaries to the national average because it relied heavily on what he viewed as flawed data from the National Education Association, which represents educators across the country.
In his veto, the governor said the legislation does not “accurately reflect” the state of teacher compensation in Virginia and that NEA’s methodology includes substitute teacher compensation and fails to account for supplemental salary expenditures in determining teacher compensation. He added that the legislation does not account for various scenarios, such as an economic downturn or state of emergency, that could impact teacher pay rates.
The measure also didn’t include Youngkin’s earlier recommendation to create an annual teacher compensation review.
“Consistent, annual reporting of accurate teacher compensation data is essential for lawmakers and the governor to make sound decisions,” he said.
The governor further explained his veto by noting that since 2021, the state has invested $1.6 billion to grow teacher salaries by 23%.
Youngkin said that Virginia‘s average teacher pay was already projected to hit the national average this fiscal year.
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