The Federation of American Samoa Educators says it is discouraging and embarrassing that new teachers are reaping the benefits of salary adjustments when long-serving teachers are not.
American Samoa Photo: RNZI
Its president, Peni Ben Te'o, says the new base salaries set by the governor provides that teachers with bachelor degrees earn 23,000 US dollars, while those with a masters degree make 27,000 US dollars.
Te'o, who is the principal at Leone, says he has experienced teachers, vice principals and counsellors at his school with bachelor and masters degrees earning below the new base.
"Some of these teachers are talking about quitting, some of these teachers are talking about walking out of the classroom. It's not a good thing when you have a new teacher coming in that doesn't have experience in the classroom and here you have a teacher with six to 10 years in the classroom still earning much, much lower than it's supposed to be."
Peni Ben Te'o says all teachers wages should be adjusted for the years they have spent in the classroom.
