Hello. I am a school social worker. I would like to support an increase in teachers salaries. If there was any question about how valuable teachers are to society, I think the pandemic answered that question. We have children who are now grade levels behind academically, have poor social skills and are in more need of mental health services than ever before. School is a place where many children receive not only their basic needs to live, but their emotional and social needs. Considering how important we know schools and teachers are to our society, I think it's only appropriate that we pay teachers at least a livable wage. Teachers should not be living paycheck to paycheck, working multiple jobs, or even homeless. The goal is to attract people to our profession, but we now have teachers quitting in record numbers and less graduates entering the profession. People want to feel appreciated for what they do. They don't want their line of work to be associated with "low pay" and "no respect." If we want the best for our future generations we need to make sure that teachers are valued and compensated appropriately for their work. In South Florida, A decent apartment is $2000+ per month, the median price for a single family home is around $600,000, and the average salary for a teacher in Broward County is $50,000. Florida's average teacher salary ranks 48th in the nation. If we can't afford to live here, who will teach the children?