Two bills aimed at addressing a teacher shortage are making their way through the New Mexico legislature.
One bill, known as Senate Bill 28, would provide a tax deduction for all public school teachers who use their own money to buy school supplies, while a bill originating out of the House, Bill 127, would double the minimum salary for educational assistants in the state from $12 to $25,000 a year.
"When I started teaching more than 20 years ago, there were many teachers and very few jobs,” Ellen Bernstein, president of the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, told KOAT. “Now, there are very few teachers and many jobs. If our workplace cultures are positive and we have a balance, people will stay in teaching.”
Minimum licensed teacher salaries were increased by $10,000 during last year’s legislative season, something Bernstein applauded. She said pay incentives are important to recruiting new teachers, retaining those already teaching and reclaiming the ones who have left.
Kristine Moore, a high school teacher for more than a decade, said her job has changed drastically since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Trying to figure out how we reengage our kids is a struggle for all of us right now,” Moore told KOAT. “We have students that face so many social and economic challenges every day. When they get into that classroom and find one teacher they connect with, it makes all the difference in the world, and teachers become mentors."
