SAISD board takes up pay hikes
To the tune of, “What do we want? Pay Raises! When do we want them? Now!” teachers and staff filled the board room at the San Antonio Independent School District to support the most generous of seven pay options outlined to trustees Monday.
The proposed across-theboard pay increases of 3 percent, 6 percent and 9 percent — and alternative combinations of increases based on job description — kicked off the budget process for the coming school year and drew parents and community members as well as employees to the presentation.
It’s a conflicting time for district officials and board members, who have watched enrollment and attendance projections forecast a drop in revenue amid an unprecedented need to keep good teachers, attract new ones and fill staff positions in a competitive labor market.
Arguing for the 9 percent option, Alejandra Lopez, president of the San Antonio Alliance for Teachers and Support Personnel, said the success of the district’s newly issued five-year strategic plan, called Always Learning, will depend on retaining “high quality staff in all areas.”
“You have an opportunity to show your commitment to your staff by prioritizing staff compensation for next year,” she continued. “An investment in our staff is an investment in our future.”
“It is my understanding that veteran teachers are leaving because of stagnant pay, an ever-increasing workload and the appeal of competing school districts,” Miranda Izaguirre, a firstyear teacher at Woodlawn Academy said. “I can attest to that, as I have weighed out my own options to continue my career as a teacher.”
The trustees heard from nearly 30 attendees, all of them advocating for the 9 percent pay increase. Most cited the new strategic plan and the importance of their own roles in it.
The 9 percent general pay in
crease would cost the district an estimated $160.5 million over the next five years, with an annual cost of about $32.1 million. The cheapest option, 3 percent across the board, would cost about $53 million over the next five years.
Last year, the board approved a 3 percent pay raise for full time campus staff, 2 percent for principals and assistant and associate principals, and 1 percent for department staff making more than $100,000 a year. Then trustees changed their minds and approved a 3 percent raise for all. District administrators had recommended a 2 percent raise.
This time trustees’ questions revolved around planning for continuous losses and the hard decisions coming their way, including potentially having to consolidate or close buildings to reflect the financial reality of the district’s reduced enrollment.
“The elephant in the room is the enrollment and our facilities,” trustee Ed Garza said.
“We’ve gone from nearly 80,000 students to 45,000 students, almost half the students. So our family size has shrunk in half but our house remains the same. And we cannot have an honest conversation about what our family deserves, because they do deserve that and then some, without a conversation of being more efficient.”
No decisions on pay increases are expected in the next few weeks. Trustees requested additional information to be presented in upcoming board meetings and budget workshops, including current vacancies, worker categories in the different raise options, and salary compression, to address the issue of veteran teachers making close to what new teachers are offered.
All trustees agreed the district needs to raise pay but voiced concerns about other stress factors, including workload, and the inequities of state funding. For some seeking reelection this May — the board’s president, Christina Martinez, and trustee Alicia Sebastian — the conversation could affect potential campaign support from teachers and staff.
Superintendent Jaime Aquino made an impassioned call for elected officials in Austin to watch a recording of the meeting and hear the voices of the many teachers who shared their struggles.
“We do believe that you deserve a better compensation, because of the work that you do and hold the hands of our future generation,” Aquino said. “In order to really give you what you deserve ... it’s going to take beyond this board and beyond my administration. We have fixed revenue that comes to us and really ties our hands. This is not an SAISD issue.”