HS Alliance
ISD Dallas teachers stand to get a pay raise, especially novice educators new to the district.
DISD hopes more money will attract and retain more teachers as the state faces a shortage of educators. But the union representing Dallas educators said that may not be enough.
Alliance/AFT, a Dallas-based union, encourages parents to call the board and attend Thursday night’s school board meeting.
Administrators are expected to vote on a new budget for the 2022/23 school year where the district has already proposed raising the minimum wage for support staff workers from $13.50 per hour to $15.00 per hour. ‘hour.
“So whether it’s a bus driver or a child nutrition worker, an office manager, something like that,” DISD’s Dwayne Thompson said.
The district moved to raise hourly wages faster than originally planned, in part to attract workers, Thompson said.
But the most important budget item: teachers’ salaries.
“We just have to pray that they do the right thing,” said Rena Honea of Alliance/AFT.
Dallas ISD is in a competitive battle with surrounding districts for teachers, Thompson said. The district is proposing to increase the starting salary for new teachers by 6% to $60,000.
“And it has to be as competitive as possible to attract teaching staff,” Thompson said.
But not everyone is happy.
“Our veteran teachers feel very offended because they’re not getting this kind of raise,” Honea said.
Instead, DISD is offering a three percent raise for teachers with ten or more years of experience. The district would also offer a one-time retention allowance of up to $3,200, Thompson added.
Honea says all teachers should get an 8-9% pay raise just to cover inflation.
“Everything else is really pretty much a pay cut by the time you factor in all the costs of everything,” she said.
The union representative warns that a number of teachers are waiting to see what kind of raise the board adopts before deciding whether to stay for the coming year or leave the district.
“We could see more people leaving,” Thompson said.
The union is urging parents to attend Thursday night’s school board meeting wearing red as a sign of solidarity.
“Parents really have to help us with this because their children are the ones who are affected more than anyone,” she said.