Smyrna teachers voicing frustration over lower pay
SMYRNA, Del. – Public school educators in Delaware are standing together to protest the Smyrna School Board’s refusal to provide raises to their staff.
The Smyrna School Board stirred up strong emotions at the end of August when they made their raise offer to its 670 member staff, comprised of teachers, paraprofessionals, custodians and administrative assistants. The offer consisted of no pay raise for this school year, and no pay raise for the next.
New Smyrna teachers receive roughly $1,000-$2,000 less than their counterparts in New Castle County and Kent County. At the end of the 2023-2024 school, the school district struck a deal with the Smyrna’s Educators Association (SEA), a sub-union of the Delaware State Education Association. The deal stated that educators in the Smyrna School District were supposed to receive modest pay raises each of the next two years contingent on a successful public referendum. The deal also allowed them to renegotiate for smaller raises if the district failed to pass a referendum.
In March, the district told educators they were planning to offer teachers raises in both the first and second year, when the district was due to receive a $5.4 million boost from taxpayers, if successful. However, the referendum failed in the in the 2024 vote, with only 42.1 percent of the 1,949 taxpayers voting yes. And in this year’s vote, just 40.5 percent of the 3,620 taxpayers supported that referendum.
“We’re willing to sit down and talk because we don’t want Smyrna to fall further behind our neighboring districts,” said SEA President Chuck Welsh in a statement online. “But, unfortunately, their actions are harming staff morale before the first student has even walked through the door. Smyrna’s educators and students deserve better than this.”
Educators, including more than 50 SEA members, showed up to voice their frustrations at a Smyrna School Board meeting on Sept. 10., in which Welsh and others pleaded with the Board to meet with the union for wage negotiations. SEA reports they had arrangements in place to negotiate pay again with the district in the event of a failed referendum, but Welsh says the district delayed those negotiations until the school year was nearly underway.
The cooperation of the Board is essential to secure the raises, as the City of Smyrna has not given any indication that they intend to go back to taxpayers for another referendum attempt.
Teachers in Delaware are not permitted to strike, but Smyrna educators have protested in other ways, including wearing black on Fridays, a move that other educators across the state have embraced to show solidarity. Others are posing with “0%” signs noting the lack of local raises.
Chris Scuse, a Smyrna School Board member, pushed back at Welsh, saying the zero percent figure is not completely accurate, citing a $250 one-time bonus given to all teachers in the district.
“The superintendent says paying us what we’re worth isn’t sustainable,” said Welsh at the meeting. “Well, neither is balancing a budget on the backs of the dedicated teachers, paraprofessionals, custodians, and administrative assistants who work day in and day out for this community.”
