Virginia Beach, despite having the highest rated public school system in all of southeastern Virginia, falls well behind the other cities in Hampton Roads (what the conglomerate of cities in southeastern Virginia is typically referred to as) in teacher pay. 

The current minimum full-time salary for a teacher without any creditable experience is $55,687 in Virginia Beach, which does not fall far behind neighboring Chesapeake ($56,564) and Norfolk ($57,500). However, Virginia Beach was first in Hampton Roads in this category as recently as the 2022-23 school year. In 2023-24, Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) did not increase the starting wages at all from the previous year. 

Since then, Virginia Beach has continued to fall behind in the teacher pay department. At the end of the 2024-25 school year, VBCPS teachers protested to receive salary raises that were competitive with surrounding school districts. For instance, public school teachers in Norfolk received a more than 7.5% increase in starting pay. Though aiming for a higher figure, the teachers in Virginia Beach eventually settled for 4.5%. 

Obviously, this is a major issue facing the district, but with a total student population of just under 65,000 students, the school board has their hands somewhat tied when it comes to these shortcomings. 

Conversely, the outrage over the letter sent out to teachers about the rise in their healthcare premiums on Aug. 7, was avoidable. The letter announced that district employees will have to pay as much as $210.97 more per pay period for health insurance. This figure rises to as high as $445.25 per month for retired VBCPS teachers. 

“The disconnect is that we have to decide on our budget in January, but we don’t get concrete information on healthcare solidified until July,” said school board member Melinda Rogers in a conversation on Aug. 22. In spite of this assertion, the lawsuit filed on Aug. 21 alleges that healthcare information was knowingly withheld from VBCPS employees by the superintendent to avoid a mass employee exodus to surrounding districts and private schools. 

“We’ve called a meeting on healthcare benefits to fix this broken system,” Rogers said.

This is mistreatment and deception of the highest order. Seeing as all teachers signed their contracts for the current school year well before being notified of the premium hikes, the district has likely committed fraud and breach of contract. More significantly, this is a breach of the trust of its educators, a pillar of a community which, up until now, has had one of the most thriving school districts in the entire nation. 

On March 4, 2025, David Keogh, a Senior Benefits Consultant with Mercer (VBCPS’ third party consultant) met with the school board to discuss the health insurance plans for the upcoming year. The following are the two plans that were presented to be offered to employees. 

2025 Health Plan Design by Mercer

The projected cost of these plans for the school district was $108.4 million, with the additional $9.4 million to be covered by school district employees. 

The healthcare offerings given to teachers on Aug. 7 were drastically different from those outlined above. Numbers on school district vs. employee costs have not yet been released, but it’s safe to assume that district cost was likely deflected onto the employees in some way. 

As a result of research funding cuts and cuts to medicare in the realm of $536 billion, health insurance premiums across the country have been rising. Nonetheless, to put teachers in a position where affording care for themselves is at risk, given everything they provide for local communities, and moreover, to lie about it, is despicable. 

Dr. Donald Robertson Jr. who declined to comment for this piece, conveniently negotiated a 13% raise for himself this year. His total salary figure has not been disclosed. 

“I did not vote to approve the superintendent’s raise, because I feel that at a time like this, leaders should stand with their people,” Rogers said. “Leaders lead, not from the front, but by ensuring that everyone gets to where they need to be from the back.”

Teachers across the country are constantly struggling to achieve fair pay. It is disheartening to see a district that performs so highly in other metrics continue to do so poorly in accommodating those who make its schools great. Policies must be put in place to prioritize this issue, as well as to prevent greed and deception from slipping through the cracks.