Remuneration of Basic Education Teachers in the Public and Private Sectors at Municipal Level

Abstract

The present work aims to examine the remuneration of basic education teachers in the public and private sectors in the municipality of Campo Grande, the capital of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. We conducted an exploratory study using the Annual Report on Social Information (RAIS), educational legislation at the federal and municipal levels, and the literature in the area. We note that the period in question was marked by the enactment of the federal law n.11,737/2008 and municipal law n.5,189/2013. The former instituted the National Minimum Wage (PSPN) for the whole country; the latter established the municipal PSPN for teachers’ 20-hour work week. We found that basic education teachers with a secondary education degree obtained higher remuneration rates in private education institutions than in the public municipal system. As for basic education teachers with a higher education degree, most of them were found to be working in the public municipal system, and showed substantially higher remuneration rates than the ones practiced in the private sector. We also found that, although the PSPN law was enacted at municipal level, it still has not been actually implemented. This, in turn, will require important efforts by the municipality and the teaching workforce in order to ensure material conditions of existence.