Teacher pay should be livable, competitive
Last month, I dressed up as a World War I general in a costume I made over the weekend. In character, I commanded my high school world history students to become soldiers and crawl through “trenches” I set up in our classroom. Inside, they found primary documents to use as resources to write letters home from the front. It was one of many examples of how I like to make history come alive in class. Those are the lessons my students will always remember.
Since kindergarten, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I would race home and go straight to my “classroom” and teach the lessons I learned that day, with my younger sister as my student. After earning a master’s degree my dream came true, and I taught in North Carolina for two years before the Houston Independent School District recruited me with promises of a livable wage and a higher quality of life. I packed up and moved.
The Houston salary was fine at the time because my then-husband also had an income. But I’m single now and dealing with serious medical issues, and my salary is not fine anymore. It’s actually incredibly demeaning to pay a professional a salary that’s only livable if you have a dual income and happen to have no major health issues.
Houston teacher salaries are unfairly low. The district ended additional pay for advanced degrees — masters or PhDs — in 2014. Based on Texas Education Agency data, Houston teacher wages are not competitive with neighboring districts, especially for midcareer teachers. In fact, in 2015, TEA data shows that HISD had the highest turnover rate in the area — 20.8 percent — compared with five nearby suburban districts. In 2016, HISD’s churn rate of 19.5 percent improved slightly to squeak by with the second-worst rate.
I am far from the only teacher who is being forced to consider leaving because of Houston’s uncompetitive, unfair salaries. I speak for all of us when I say we desperately want to remain teachers in HISD. Our students have become family,
Houston teacher salaries are unfairly low. The district ended additional pay for advanced degrees — masters or PhDs — in 2014.
in a sense. Despite the struggles of life, we have not stopped devoting double-digit hours every weekday and weekend to make a difference in the lives of our students. We have found our calling in HISD, and love working with the students who need us the most. But we can’t afford to stay. If I transferred to the CypressFairbanks ISD, for instance, and continued to do the extra tutoring and teacher coaching that I now do, I could earn nearly $5,000 a year more. And that includes a $2,000 bonus for an advanced degree. That would make a big difference.
Teacher salaries don’t match the importance society gives to quality education and teaching. My colleagues and I earn far less than many other white-collar professionals with advanced degrees. Why aren’t teachers shown the same respect as other professionals when it comes to salary?
To recruit and retain great teachers, Houston must change its attitude about how it pays its teachers. Treat teachers as the professionals we are and allow us to continue our passion on a livable, competitive wage.