Teachers Assn. to support new salaries, elimination of Teacher Career Law.

Puerto Rico Teachers Association President Víctor M. Bonilla Sánchez

By THE STAR STAFF

Puerto Rico Teachers Association (AMPR by its initials in Spanish) President Víctor M. Bonilla Sánchez confirmed this week that the organization will support two bills aimed at eliminating the Teacher Career Law and establishing new salary scales for educators in the Department of Education.

The measures, House Bills (HB) 616 and 619, seek to overhaul how teacher compensation is determined.

HB 616 would repeal the existing Teacher Career Law and replace it with a transparent salary scale tied to academic qualifications. According to the measure, the goal is to expedite salary increases and eliminate the bureaucracy and subjective evaluations that have hindered the current system.

Meanwhile, HB 619 -- drafted with input from the AMPR -- proposes a salary scale based on years of service, guaranteeing uniform, automatic increases every five years to recognize the professional experience of active teachers in the public school system.

“We are presenting our arguments in favor of these two bills, which do justice to teachers who, for decades, have not received a salary increase,” Bonilla Sánchez said.

He noted that HB 616 would replace the teacher career track with a qualifications‑based salary scale, addressing long‑standing delays in payments owed to educators who have completed required levels under the law. HB 619, he added, would ensure periodic raises based on years of service, a structure he described as fair and necessary to stabilize the public school system and reduce teacher migration to the mainland United States.

Bonilla Sánchez noted that the AMPR has pushed for more than a decade to reopen and properly fund the teacher career track. He thanked the speaker of the House for advancing both bills, which he said “bring justice to Puerto Rican teachers” and could help attract new educators to the system.

The AMPR president also highlighted that HB 616 includes provisions for teachers with only a bachelor’s degree, allowing those who obtain two degrees to receive a 50% salary increase -- an incentive he believes will motivate educators and students to pursue further studies.

Additionally, HB 619 recognizes years of experience gained in the private sector, a measure intended to support teachers returning to the public system.