To the editor: As Arlington continues to recover from the effects of COVID-19 on our students and schools, there is more that needs to be done to improve and maintain our outstanding education system.
As parents of students in Arlington Public Schools (APS), we are acutely aware of the numerous challenges. From challenges caused by COVID and student mental health concerns to the projected increases in student population and addressing the needs of English-language learners, there is one element that is crucial to any solution: quality educators.
Luckily, for the time being, Arlington has those quality educators. In the 2023 School Rankings by Niche, a company specializing in K-12 school data and rankings, APS was ranked as the ninth-best district in Virginia for quality of teachers. However, there are now more educators leaving the profession than entering it. And Arlington faces an additional challenge on this front: APS employees’ compensation is falling behind their colleagues in surrounding districts.
While the average salaries tell a story of competitiveness, they mask a troubling reality. Early career educators in Arlington are out paced by their counterparts in surrounding districts. Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, and Falls Church have all surpassed Arlington in compensation for early career educators with a bachelor’s degree.
The days of Arlington having its pick of the next generation of educator talent are in the rearview mirror. With fewer people deciding to become educators, Arlington will need to compete vigorously for this smaller pool of talent. The reality is that because we have not invested in educator compensation, we are not doing that, and we are exacerbating our county’s challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified teachers.
While compensating educators at the level that matches the value they bring to Arlington is a worthwhile goal on its own, recruiting and retaining quality teachers is even more crucial, given its impact on students. We know that effective educators are the most important school-based determinant of student educational performance.
At a time when many students are requiring increased levels of educational, social, and/or emotional support as they recover from the effects of the pandemic, we are doing them a disservice by not doing more to recruit and retain effective educators.
The simple fact is our current trajectory in Arlington is not going to allow us to compete regionally. The superintendent’s proposed fiscal 2024 budget offers employees a step on the pay scale (on average around $1,000) and a 3 percent Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). While these are a step in the right direction, they are not nearly enough. In an era where inflation remains at 5 percent, these measures allow educators to, at best, maintain their compensation level.
Given the regional dynamics we highlighted above, if we are not moving forward, we are falling further behind. And even though they may not want to, we are giving educators no other choice, but to seek better compensation and lower cost-of-living. A path that will lead them away from Arlington.
Unfortunately, we are already seeing, at least anecdotally, the beginnings of this exodus. Students are reporting that they have experienced and seen cases where the teacher for a given class has changed multiple times throughout the year.
This is not a recipe for student success. If students are focusing on adjusting to a new teacher mid-year and are lacking in crucial continuity, their attention is being pulled away from the most important thing: learning.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. If we do not step up, we will continue to see quality educators leave Arlington (or not choose to work here in the first place!). As a result, we will fall further behind in recruiting the best and brightest from the smaller pool of high-quality educators.
That is why the Arlington School Board and the Arlington County Board must prioritize improving teacher compensation in the 2024 budget and do what it takes to make sure that the Arlington school system maintains its place as one of the premier school districts in Virginia.
June Prakash, Alfonso Lopez, Arlington
Prakash is president of the Arlington Education Association. Lopez is a member of the House of Delegates.
