10 Key Points to Understand the Historical Debt Toward Chilean Teachers
- Rodrigo Espinoza
- Apr 4
- 6 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
First, their salaries were reduced by more than half; then, they were promised financial compensation that never arrived: nearly 45 years have passed since then. This debt with Chilean teachers has condemned the vast majority of them to poverty. In this article we present 10 key points to understand the Historical Debt toward Chilean teachers: its origin, the struggle for reparation, and the road that still lies ahead to settle this debt with thousands of affected teachers.
10 Key Points to Understand the Historical Debt Toward Chilean Teachers | Table of Contents
For decades, the Historical Debt has been a headline topic and a subject of political debate in Chile. It originated in the 1980s and has been marked by compensation proposals, national and international court rulings, as well as agreements and disagreements. Below, we outline the origin, context, and evolution of this issue.
What is the Historical Debt to Chilean Teachers?
The Deuda Histórica (Historical Debt), as the name suggests, refers to an outstanding debt from the State of Chile to thousands of teachers. This issue dates back nearly 45 years, stemming from the salary and pension losses caused by the failure to implement promised salary adjustments during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
Over time, and in the absence of concrete solutions, this debt has come to be known as "historical", becoming a symbol of the labor abuses that affected the teaching profession during that period.
The Economic Harm Began Years Earlier
The origin of the historical debt goes back to 1974, when the Public Service Statute (Estatuto Administrativo), which governs labor relations between the Chilean State and its employees, was amended. Through Decree-Law 249 (Decreto-Ley 249), the Unified Salary Scale (Escala Única de Remuneraciones) was introduced to establish a standardized salary structure for public employees.
This new system placed teachers in a lower salary bracket than most other State professionals. As a result, teachers' incomes were reduced by between 30% and 75%, marking the beginning of a significant decline in their working conditions.
A "Compensatory" Allowance that Did Not Reached Everyone
In 1981, Decree-Law 3,551 (Decreto Ley 3.551) aimed to address this situation by introducing a special, non-taxable allowance for teachers, worth up to 90% of their salary. This measure brought hope to the teaching profession, at least as a way to mitigate the economic harm they had suffered.
However, complications arose from the outset. The deadline for implementing this allowance was four years, with a final date set for 1984, which was eventually extended until 1988. During these same years, the municipalization of education transferred teachers from being public sector employees to private sector workers, as the management of schools was decentralized to local municipalities, removing teachers from the Public Service Statute and weakening their labor rights.
New Employers Did Not Assume the Commitment
Between 1980 and 1987, teachers began working under the municipal education system. This change meant that teachers became private sector employees, which removed their eligibility to receive the allowance promised in 1981. The municipalities, as the new employers, failed to honor this right, and the majority of teachers never received the promised financial compensation.
A Harm that Trascends Salary
The impact of this debt extended far beyond teachers' monthly salaries. In 1981, Chile introduced the AFP pension system, and teachers were gradually incorporated into this scheme. Under this system, compound interest plays a crucial role: the final pension depends directly on the monthly contributions and the length of time a person has been contributing to their savings.
As a result, the failure to pay the promised allowance over 40 years ago has had a devastating effect on teachers' current pensions. Today, many retired teachers receive monthly pensions of less than $120,000 pesos (roughly equivalent to $120 USD), an amount that is far below the cost of living in Chile, leaving them in a state of extreme vulnerability and forcing them to rely on external assistance to survive.
The Historical Debt in Numbers
To understand the full extent of the historical debt owed to Chilean teachers, let's look at some key figures that highlight the scope of this issue:
Teachers Affected: According to the Ministry of Education, around 76,000 teachers have been identified as impacted by this debt.
Gender Inequality: Of those affected, 68% are women, demonstrating how this issue disproportionately affects women in the teaching profession.
Amount Owed per Teacher: Congresswoman Marcia Raphael estimates that each teacher is owed an average of 90 million pesos (approximately 90,000 USD), reflecting decades of financial harm.
Deceased Teachers: Over 14,000 teachers have passed away while waiting for a resolution to this debt, adding an urgent and long-delayed sense of justice to the issue.
Total Debt: The total accumulated debt is estimated at around 11.6 billion dollars, underscoring the historical and economic magnitude of the problem.
The Teachers' Fight for Their Rights
Since the historical debt was first incurred, Chilean teachers have consistently fought for recognition and payment of what they are owed. Over the course of nearly 45 years, they have employed various tactics—legal action, demonstrations, protests, and union negotiations—all aimed at asserting their rights.
The Chilean Teachers' Union (Colegio de Profesores de Chile) has been at the forefront of this fight, leading efforts for justice and making the historical debt a powerful symbol of the struggles teachers faced during the dictatorship.
On the other hand, organizations like the Group for the Payment of the Historical Debt (Agrupación por el Pago de la Deuda Histórica) have played a key role in keeping the movement alive. For the past 16 years, its members have met every Thursday in front of the Chilean presidential palace, at Plaza de la Constitución, holding peaceful protests to raise awareness and demand concrete action from the government.
Legal Rulings Against the State of Chile
Over the years, teachers have explored various ways to seek justice for the Historical Debt. While some have pursued individual lawsuits, others have taken collective legal action in Chilean courts. In many cases, the rulings have been in their favor, though they are often compensatory, meaning the amounts awarded fall short of covering the full debt.
On the international stage, the International Labour Organization (ILO) intervened in 2015, stating that Chile had violated conventions on Old Age and Disability Insurance. The ILO urged the Chilean government to accept responsibility and take concrete steps to resolve the outstanding debt.
Furthermore, in 2021, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a landmark ruling in favor of 846 teachers who had won cases in Chilean courts but never received their payments. The Court ruled that Chile was responsible for failing to properly enforce the court orders that recognized the payment of the owed amounts.
Official Recognition of the Historical Debt
The ongoing efforts of teachers have led to the official recognition of the Historical Debt and, at least formally, to the acknowledgment of the State's responsibility for addressing it. This process has been gradual and has involved several key milestones:
Court Rulings: Initially, it was the courts that began siding with teachers, confirming the harm they had suffered and, in some cases, ordering partial reparations.
Historical Debt Commission (2009): At the request of former President Michelle Bachelet during her first term, this commission was set up in the Chilean Congress. Its work was pivotal in bringing the issue to the political forefront and moving forward with its documentation.
State Recognition (2014-2018): During Bachelet’s second term, a major step was taken with the official recognition of the debt by the Chilean State. This period saw the creation of a working group that compiled a detailed list of affected teachers, laying the groundwork for future reparative measures.
Proposals for Reparation
The Chilean Congress has proposed solutions to the historical debt on two occasions. In 2008, a reparations plan was presented but failed to gain traction, and in 2018, an attempt was made to include a solution in the 2019 national budget, but this effort also stalled.
Finally, in 2024, President Gabriel Boric's government introduced a concrete proposal, which was put to a vote among teachers and passed with 82% approval. The plan includes a payment of 4.5 million pesos per teacher (approximately 5,600 USD), divided into two installments, with a six-year timeline to compensate all surviving affected teachers. The proposal was officially approved on January 22, 2025, and became law.
The historical debt is more than just a financial issue. As the Chilean Teachers' Union highlights, it represents an open wound within the teaching profession and a moral debt. While there has been some progress, such as the 2024 proposal, it's clear that this issue can’t be resolved with partial payments alone. What’s needed is a full acknowledgment of the harm caused, along with meaningful reparations, including the provision of adequate pension benefits.
We want to hear your thoughts! Leave a comment: Do you think the 2024 proposal is enough to address this debt? Share this article with anyone who might be interested in the impact of the historical debt in Chile.
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