Competing visions for improving teachers’ quality of life took centre stage on Monday as candidates for Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) president-elect Dr Maureen Mullings-Nelson and Dr Darien Henry sparred over salaries, housing, special education and the future direction of the teaching profession.

The two educators used the JTA’s annual presidential debate to pitch contrasting solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing teachers, including low pay, housing affordability, teacher retention and growing demands in the classroom.

Henry, principal of Montego Bay Community College, argued that improving teacher compensation must be a national priority, proposing that classroom teachers should earn between US$30,000 and US$35,000 annually in line with regional counterparts.

“There is no question that the international pressures as well as geopolitical issues in the Far East continue to influence our economic direction as a country. However, as it stands, we have to make some bold and transformative positions as a Government,” he said.

He also pointed to the widening gap between teachers’ salaries and those of elected officials, arguing that stronger action is needed to retain educators.

“For too long, Jamaican teachers have been ebbing and flowing at the bottom of the salary scale. That’s why they’re not staying here,” Henry said.

Mullings-Nelson, president of The Mico University College Staff Association, placed greater emphasis on housing, welfare and educational benefits, proposing expanded access to National Housing Trust benefits and full tertiary scholarships for teachers’ children.

“What I have on my manifesto is for housing benefits for teachers across Jamaica. What I have on my manifesto is to engage the National Housing Trust, [which is] sitting on over $390 billion, to create low-income housing solutions for teachers right across Jamaica,” she said.

The candidates also found common ground on performance-based pay, with both rejecting any move to tie teachers’ salaries directly to performance evaluations under current conditions.

“It would never, ever be something that is to be contemplated to tie teachers with performance-based pay,” Henry said, while Mullings-Nelson argued that the inequities in school funding and resources would first have to be addressed.

Special education emerged as another major issue during the debate. Henry described the situation as urgent, warning that many students remain undiagnosed due to limited assessment capacity and lengthy waiting periods.

“There is a crisis,” he said.

“Our teachers, as it stands now, they are seeing far more students who are presenting with special education needs, and they themselves are out of their pedagogical depth in reaching these students,” Henry added.

Mullings-Nelson, meanwhile, called for mandatory assessments for struggling students, improved funding for schools and additional classroom support for students with special educational needs.

The debate also produced a rare flashpoint when Mullings-Nelson appeared to question Henry’s leadership style, referencing media reports and complaints from staff at institutions he has led.

“I heard my colleague mention two institutions and I would have served as vice-principal. The data is also there in terms of the media, so we’re not making up stories of a bakra master situation in some institutions and how some colleagues are feeling where leadership is concerned,’ she said.

Mullings-Nelson argued that the JTA needs a leader capable of uniting a membership that she said had become increasingly fragmented.

Henry quickly pushed back, defending his record and describing the criticism as a reflection of his insistence on accountability and high standards.

“I heard reference made to bakra master leadership and it harkens to a June 19, 2021 story which was done at Cumberland High School where I was enviably referred to as a bakra master. You know what I was a bakra master about? Ensuring that systems and processes were working so that there was effective teaching and learning and that schooling went on — and that has been recognised,” he said.

He added that his approach to leadership had been validated by the results achieved at institutions he has led, pointing to both Cumberland High School and Montego Bay Community College as examples of successful transformation.