The 'Scary' Exodus: Higher Wages Coming, Yet Teachers Leave in Droves as Schools Shrink - An In-depth Dept. of Education Report
During Tuesday’s marathon session, the Senate Committee on Budget, Appropriations, and Finance focused on the Department of Education. As is customary, the block began with a report from Education Commissioner Dr. Dionne Wells-Hedrington, who outlined the performance of the Department during this fiscal year and broke down the budgeting for fiscal year 2024.
2023-06-15 16:56:25 - VI News Staff
Next year’s funding request is $174,300,650, a scant 0.01% increase from the amount appropriated for FY 2023. An additional $500,000 appropriation from the Tourism Fund brings the total to $174,800650.
Enrollment for 2022-2023 was 10,166 students, continuing the ongoing downward trend in the territory’s school-age population which began even prior to the hurricanes of 2017. “The census data corresponds to the decline in the population of the Virgin Islands,” Wells-Hedrington noted.
Meanwhile, the requested sum for personnel services represents a 2% increase over last year’s figure despite a drop in the number of full time employees. The increase in starting salaries for teachers is one of the contributing factors in that increase. Bachelor’s degree holders will now begin at just over $49,000, while holders of master’s degrees will now start at over $51,000.
Commissioner Wells-Hedrington noted that D.O.E. still struggled with a high turnover rate, with a total of 121 employees, including 55 teachers, leaving the department’s employ during the 2022-2023 school year. As of May 28, the department had received over 35 retirement or resignation letters across the territory. As of this week, 268 employees across the department have reached retirement age, including 118 teachers, Wells-Hedrington reported.