“Today, they start their career with the equivalent of a minimum wage, it’s a scandal”: deputies vote in committee for a 20% increase in teachers’ pay

The deputies adopted Thursday, in the Finance Committee, an amendment carried by La France insoumise to increase the remuneration of teachers by 20%, a mainly symbolic measure, the text having little chance of being discussed in the National Assembly, on the occasion of the examination of the finance bill (PLF) for 2027. "This amendment aims to allow the increase in the remuneration of teachers by 20% immediately, that is to say to make up for the consequences of freezing the point index started under Nicolas Sarkozy, extended under François Hollande and worsened since the first five-year term of Emmanuel Macron", indicated LFI deputy Paul Vannier. According to him, the increase constitutes “a measure of justice (...

) essential to allow teachers who support the public education service to simply be able to find accommodation, for example. " "Today, teachers start their careers with the equivalent of a minimum wage. It’s a scandal,” continued the elected official, believing that this had “very serious consequences on our ability to attract the best students and a sufficient number of students into the teaching career.

"The National Education credits rapporteur, MP RN Anthony Boulogne, opposed the measure, denouncing a "completely fanciful" amendment. "The increase in teachers' remuneration is an essential subject for the attractiveness of the profession", he argued, but "increasing teachers' salaries by 20% over a single budget year is not financeable. “Like the other amendments adopted in committee, the measure must still be examined in public session at the National Assembly.

A symbolic measure But these proposals have above all a political significance at this stage, the draft budget having little chance of being adopted by a vote of the deputies in the absence of a majority. If the first part of the text, devoted to revenue, was rejected, deputies would not debate the expenditure section. On Wednesday in the Senate, Senator LR Olivier Paccaud, rapporteur of National Education appropriations, for his part defended an amendment aimed at upgrading the career environments of teachers.

The measure, which notably plans to accelerate certain career paths, would represent a cost of 22 million euros in the first year, then 106 million euros by 2030. Several reports have recommended in recent weeks to reinvest the gains linked to the demographic decline in an increase in teachers' salaries. Six months before the presidential election, many candidates have also promised to increase teachers' salaries.

Machine-translated from French