NASHVILLE (AP) - The head of the National Education Association said Wednesday that she supports increased pay for Tennessee teachers because it's necessary to take care of their families, as well as pay off college loans they used to get into the profession.
Lily Eskelsen Garcia was in Nashville to talk with educators and spoke to The Associated Press after touring a local elementary school.
The Tennessee Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union, is calling on Gov. Bill Haslam to increase teachers' pay as much as 11.3 percent. They're asking for 6 percent for next year, and the rest to be phased in over two to three years.
While teacher salaries vary nationally, Garcia acknowledged Tennessee teachers aren't being paid enough.
She said the low salaries could deter those interested in becoming teachers.
"They're going to be making some financial decisions and I'm afraid that because of the low pay, a lot o f them are going to decide I can't teach in the Tennessee schools," Garcia said. "I want to ... but I can't feed my family."
Tennessee teacher salaries have remained flat since 2011 - Haslam's first year in office - when compared with the Consumer Price Index, according to the TEA.
The Republican governor had planned to increase teacher salaries last year, as well as pay for state employees, but decided not to citing poor state revenues.
He later vowed to make Tennessee the fastest-improving state in the nation in terms of teacher pay.
Haslam told reporters later Wednesday that he's still committed to that, but his action will still depend on state revenues, which he says he hopes to have a better picture of in the next couple of months.
"Nobody wants to prioritize that as much as I do," Haslam said of higher teacher pay. "But we have ... to fit within the revenue that we have."
The TEA said the increase could be built into the state's scho ol funding formula, or BEP. The group wants to ultimately increase the state's BEP funding for teacher salaries from $40,000 to $45,000.
"We're not asking for this to happen all at once, but we are asking for the governor to get serious about investing in our teachers," said TEA executive director Carolyn Crowder. "The povertization of the teaching profession in Tennessee must stop."
Haslam is holding budget hearings with state agencies this week and scheduled to hear from the Education Department on Friday.