HISD approves teacher pay hikes
Step increases give most raises of $200-$2,200
Most Houston ISD teachers will receive modest salary raises in 2018-19 after district trustees rebuffed administrators’ proposal Thursday to freeze educator pay amid a budget crunch.
Trustees voted 5-4 to maintain the district’s current teacher salary plan, which will result in most educators receiving raises ranging from about $200 to $2,200 a year as a reward for completing an extra year in the classroom. A small percentage will not receive raises based on their level of experience.
The money was not specifically included in the district’s 2018-19 budget approved by trustees in June. As a result, HISD administrators likely will have to cut elsewhere from
the district’s operating budget, though language included in Thursday’s proposal mandates that HISD employees cannot be laid off and salaries cannot be cut to pay for the additional spending.
“Our teachers need their step increase,” said HISD Trustee Elizabeth Santos, who proposed an amendment that resulted in the increase. “It’s the one thing they thought was going to be given to them.”
HISD administrators said the district could not afford teacher raises after trustees approved a 2018-19 budget in June that included $84 million in cuts, $13.5 million more in special education services spending and $10 million to keep employee health insurance premiums flat. Administrators said awarding “step” raises would cost about $5 million.
Prior to the vote Thursday, district leaders did not commit to how they would trim $5 million. Trustees who voted against the pay increase expressed concern about spending money without specific ideas for cuts.
“You cannot spend money that you do not have,” Trustee Wanda Adams said. “When we don’t know where we’re going to cut, I think we’re setting a wrong standard.”
District officials were expecting Thursday’s vote on teacher salary plan would be pro forma when June’s budget was approved. Throughout the budget creation process, which lasted several months, administrators and trustees never discussed allocating money for teacher raises, district officials said.
However, the Houston Federation of Teachers, a union representing the largest number of educators in the region, and many teachers believed the 2018-19 budget included step increases. Those pay bumps would reward educators for completing an additional year of experience, with most teachers receiving an additional $200 to $900.
The miscommunication was exacerbated by the fact that HISD did not produce a proposed salary schedule until last week. Teachers have already signed their 2018-19 contracts prior to Thursday’s vote.
“It was not easily understood that ‘steps’ are not going to be honored,” Trustee Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca said. “We need to honor our word. We need to operate with integrity.”
HISD teachers are among the lowest-paid in the Houston area compared to educators of the same experience level. The annual salary difference between HISD educators and those at the region’s highest-paying district is about $2,000 to $5,000, depending on years of experience.
District teachers received raises ranging from 2 percent to 4 percent in 2017-18 under a budget that pulled about $100 million from the district’s rainy-day fund.
Trustees Santos, Flynn Vilaseca, Diana Dávila, Sergio Lira and Anne Sung voted in favor of the pay increases.