California bill seeking to raise teacher pay 50% by 2030 proposed by South Bay assemblyman

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KABC) -- A California assemblyman who represents the South Bay is proposing a bill that would give teachers a 50% raise by 2030.

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi at a press conference Wednesday unveiled his plan for Assembly Bill 938, which seeks to keep current teachers in the profession and attract younger people to the field.

"Schools across the state are facing a workforce crisis, with many teachers and school employees unable to afford to live in the communities that they work in," Muratsuchi said.

State numbers show midpoint teacher salaries have increased. Last school year they increased about 3.2% from the previous year, but that increase is about a third of the inflation increase between May 2021 and May 2022. That essentially means teachers faced a pay cut.

"Two-thirds of young adults recently surveyed cite pay as one of the top three reasons of why they are not interested in going into the teaching profession," Muratsuchi said. "We need to close this wage gap."

Naveen Ady is a teacher at Lawndale High School in the Centinela Valley School District. The district is laying off 87 teachers and 58 classified employees like janitors and guidance counselors at the end of the school year.

Ady says she'll be out of a job at the end of the school year and doubts if she'll stay in the teaching profession because of low pay.

"It's not enough to meet the needs of our students and ends up falling on the backs of teachers, and that is not accounted for in our salaries," Ady said.

"It's hard to afford a mortgage in California, let alone in Los Angeles, and a lot of teachers are driving from upwards of an hour just to get to their jobs," Ady said.

There will be a Centinela Valley School board meeting on May 9. The public is invited to attend.