Brazil Raises Teacher Salaries, Guarantees Inflation Protection

Brazil’s Federal Deputy Idilvan Alencar reports that President Lula da Silva signed Law 15.437/2026 on June 19th, revising the national teacher salary floor. Previously, teacher salary adjustments in 2021 and 2024 failed to keep pace with inflation.

The new law establishes a revised calculation combining annual INPC variation, ensuring at least inflation-matching increases, with 50% of the average real growth of the Fundeb education fund over the prior five years. This change resulted in a 2026 salary floor increase from R$ 4,867.77 to R$ 5,130.63.

More importantly, the law guarantees teachers will no longer receive raises below the inflation rate, a significant improvement after 18 years of the existing legislation. The new formula offers greater budgetary predictability for states and municipalities, and the government estimates a fiscal impact of R$ 6.4 billion in 2026.

However, Fundeb revenues grew 120% between 2020 and 2026, suggesting the increase is feasible. Despite this progress, challenges remain in ensuring full compliance and extending benefits to temporary teachers.