A first-year teacher goes to her second full-time job each evening and works weekends at a third job, in addition to the hours she spends preparing lessons and assessing student work – all to be able to pay student loans, a car loan, other basic expenses even while continuing to live with her parents so she can make ends meet. Others ask her if it is worth it. At times she probably wonders that herself.

Fewer than half of her college classmates who graduated with degrees in education went into the profession. For for those who do follow their passion, it is hard to convince them to stay here in Maine; the state has the lowest average teacher salary in New England.

At the same time, the number of educators leaving the profession has soared in the past six years.

No wonder – the “teacher pay penalty” in Maine is 24%. That means a teacher earns 24% less than another professional with a similar degree, and that even accounts for the mythical “summers off.” Add in the increased demands of the work and the difficulty. This is in part due to the shortage of educators – especially staff to support students with very challenging needs.

Most of the staff in these positions that support our students with greater needs are paid hourly wages, and their pay rate does not begin to compare with many jobs outside of education. Our ESPs – education support professionals – include the educational technicians who work directly with students to support their learning, as well as bus drivers who safely transport our students, custodians and maintenance staff who keep buildings and grounds clean and safe, food service personnel who prepare and serve nutritious meals, and administrative assistants who are experts in multitasking … yet know every student’s name and often know their parents, as well.

We really should refer to our ESPs as essential support professionals. Although they sometimes seem to be less visible to the public, they are incredibly important in our public schools; we depend on them for keeping so many things running smoothly. Even so, an employee who works at a fast food drive-thru is often paid more than an ESP in our schools.

Recently published data from the National Education Association shows that in 2021-2022 44% of our full-time ESPs in Maine earned under $25,000. Of those, just under half earned less than $15,000. About 6% were below the poverty level, and another 13% were at or just above it. No wonder we continue to see a high number of vacancies for these important positions. Also consider that about a third of our ESPs are at or near retirement age.

The top recommendation in every survey for increasing both recruitment and retention of educators is better compensation.

Fortunately, there are bills before the Maine Legislature to do just that – to raise the minimum teacher salary and to raise the minimum hourly wage for ESPs. We must see these measures passed and implemented. There is yet more to do: improving educators’ pensions so those who stay in the profession can retire with dignity; providing more supports to address challenging behaviors and to keep students and staff safe; countering the harmful attacks of a vocal few who seek to undermine our system of public education.

Our educators care deeply about our students. We can do what is needed to increase both recruitment and retention. But we must also demonstrate the respect that is long overdue for the dedication and hard work our educators do – work that is of paramount importance to the future of our children and our state.