Due to the recent passing of Teacher’s Day, the governor of Baja California, Marina del Pilar, stated that by May 15, 2024, teachers’ debt in the region will be settled; this historic debt had been ongoing for 15 years without any action by previous administrations.

During the 68th edition of “Wednesday Morning Press Conference with Marina del Pilar” that took place in Tijuana, the state governor pointed out that her administration has placed special interest in resolving the legitimate demands of the state’s teachers, guaranteeing the rights that previous administrations violated against the law and their wellbeing.

As such, she pointed out that when she took office on November 1, 2021, she found out that the debt was 5 billion pesos regarding pensions and retirements. 3 billion pesos of this debt has been settled, as a measure that is looking to guarantee the rights of all teachers.

“This debt was a result of the irresponsibility of previous administrations that abandoned teachers and disregarded education, the fundamental pillar of equality and social justice. We have not found, so far, a legal explanation that justifies the manner in which these administrations failed to fulfill their duty with teachers,” she said.

She spoke about the payment of 658 million pesos for 1,335 settlements, 187 million pesos for overtime federal payrolls, and 95 million pesos for overtime state payrolls, which is added to the payment of an additional 315 million pesos in settlements before the end of 2022.

In addition, there’s also a payment of 280 of the 380 million pesos that irresponsible administrations didn’t allocate to ISSSTECALI, despite the fact that these resources were taken from the wages of thousands of workers.

As such, she highlighted the initiative by the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to increase by 8.2% the wages of all teachers, so that none of them earns less than 16,000 monthly pesos, remunerating their profession with dignity.

Marina del Pilar stated that, as she is the daughter of two distinguished teachers, she recognizes the leadership that teachers have regarding education and life transformations in Baja California, which is why 1,200 definitive designations to 341 state teachers and 859 to federal teachers have been given.

She also emphasized that to benefit 65,767 teachers of children and teenagers who are the true agents of change, they are working in coordination with agencies and the federal government to invest and implement actions that provide social security to the teacher’s union and improve infrastructure so that they can partake in their profession.

Marina del Pilar highlighted that the teacher staff in the state is represented 61% by women, which is why inclusion with a gender perspective distinguishes Baja Californian education. As such, that is the way professionalization is carried out to continue this positive change pathway by training 13,887 teachers on pedagogic, school administration, and healthy living matters.

In addition, with the Google for Education program, 5,184 teachers have been trained to use digital tools, which makes them come closer to the needs of a current education system based on science and technology.

“Just last Monday, on Teacher’s Day, we gave medals and stimulus to 492 teachers for having worked for 30 and 40 years in classrooms. For that, we invested 32 million pesos,” she added.

As part of her efforts to improve education in Baja California, 244 million pesos have been invested to strengthen education infrastructure in order to improve learning with well-equipped classrooms and guarantee labor rights and the dignity of the Baja Californian teacher’s union.

Added to these efforts, there is also the 200 schools that are part of the “Educando con el Corazón” program, which means an extension of the school day to reach more than 30,000 children and teenagers.

Another program with great benefits, which is supported by teachers, is “Pancita llena, Corazón Contento”, which takes place in 910 schools and benefits 225,000 basic education students with nutritional and recently cooked breakfasts.

“Through these and many other actions we will continue to support education and respect the rights of those who with vocation and with their heart above all educate and teach others, and are part of the fundamental transformation of our state,” she stated.

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