Amid a continuing nationwide teacher shortage, the Mastery Charter network is upping salaries for beginning teachers to $60,000.

That’s a 9% increase — and more than the starting salaries of the Philadelphia and Lower Merion school districts, which currently pay $51,568 and $56,234, respectively.

(Philadelphia district teachers this winter approved a one-year contract extension that gives them a 5% raise for the 2024-25 school year; new teachers will make $54,146.)

“Teachers are underpaid,” said Serena Amos, Mastery’s human resources chief. “We’ll never be able to pay teachers what they deserve, but it is really important that we demonstrate that we value them in whatever way we can,” Amos said. “With the job becoming more challenging every day, we know that the only way to stay competitive is to stay a little bit above the curve.”

Mastery operates 24 schools educating 14,000 students in Philadelphia and Camden. The network hired 125 teachers prior to the 2023-24 school year; it anticipates needing to fill 190 teaching jobs for the 2024-25 school year.