To compete for scarce teachers, the Mastery Charter network is bumping up its starting salaries to $60K

Amid a continuing nationwide teacher shortage, the Mastery Charter network is upping salaries for beginning teachers to $60,000.

That’s a 9% increase — and more than the starting salaries of the Philadelphia and Lower Merion school districts, which currently pay $51,568 and $56,234, respectively.

(Philadelphia district teachers this winter approved a one-year contract extension that gives them a 5% raise for the 2024-25 school year; new teachers will make $54,146.)

“Teachers are underpaid,” said Serena Amos, Mastery’s human resources chief.

“We’ll never be able to pay teachers what they deserve, but it is really important that we demonstrate that we value them in whatever way we can,” Amos said. “With the job becoming more challenging every day, we know that the only way to stay competitive is to stay a little bit above the curve.”

Mastery operates 24 schools educating 14,000 students in Philadelphia and Camden. The network hired 125 teachers prior to the 2023-24 school year; it anticipates needing to fill 190 teaching jobs for the 2024-25 school year.

Some officials have floated the idea of setting $60,000 as a floor for teachers nationally. A 2023 study found that not a single state met that minimum.

Pennsylvania’s statutory minimum educator salary is $18,500.

“We’re proud to say that if you come here, you’re going to make more money,” said Amos.

Mastery, like most charters, does not have a unionized workforce.

Amos said Mastery is paying attention to not just salary, but also benefits; to compete for workers, it offers perks like family planning and IVF benefits and personal assistance with navigating student loan forgiveness.

“The $60,000 is just the tip of the iceberg of what we have to offer potential teachers,” Amos said.

Mastery’s top teacher salary is $108,000; in the Philadelphia School District, senior career teachers are paid $102,376 now, and will make $107,495 in the fall.