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Texas lawmakers ended this year’s regular legislative session without giving public schools money to increase employee raises, so school districts are finding ways to offer modest raises to their workers, even if this means investigating their savings accounts.
“We’ve taken the position that in the absence of state leadership, we’re going to take care of our staff, even if that means running a deficit budget,” said Bobby Ott, superintendent of the Temple Independent School District.
Ott and his district’s school board are in the process of approving their budgets for the upcoming school year. And for Temple ISD to give its teachers and other staff a modest 3 percent raise, it will likely have to adopt a deficit budget, meaning its expenses will exceed its revenue. The decision would put the district in a $2.2 million hole, even after Ott asked his department heads to cut their spending budgets.
“Passing a deficit budget is not sustainable,” Ott said. “Board policy stipulates that school districts maintain a certain amount of fund or savings account balance.”
Still, school districts are digging into their savings to make their teachers feel valued as the state struggles to keep educators in the classroom.
Although the average salary for teachers has increased over the past decade, it has not kept up with the rate of inflation. Low wages, overtime, health concerns during the pandemic and being caught in the crossfire of Texas’ culture wars have led more teachers to leave the profession. As a result, class sizes have increased and, in some cases, schools are struggling to find teachers.
North Texas Fort Worth ISD approved a budget last month with a deficit of $45 million, with increases accounting for more than half that amount. Frisco ISD too approved a $24 million shortfall to pay for modest staff increases.
In Central Texas, Austin ISD approved a budget with a deficit of $52 million to give employees a 7% raise. San Antonio ISD is giving its teachers raises of between 3% and 9%, and is paying them by cutting administrative jobs. In the much smaller Smithville ISD, about 45 miles east of Austin, board members approved a 4 percent increase that will leave the district with a deficit of more than half a million.
The increase “is important because it’s maybe the most we can comfortably do right now, but it shows our teachers that we’re trying to fight for them,” Smithville ISD board member Josh Magden said.
Many other school districts in the state are in the same situation thanks to rising inflation, financial disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic and insufficient state funding. Even districts that are considered property rich are considering closing schools and cutting extracurricular activities to save money. Some, like Fort Davis ISD, have closed their cafeterias.
Lawmakers failed to approve additional money this year to help schools balance their budgets or pay for raises, despite having an unprecedented $32 billion surplus on hand, and even after Gov. Greg Abbott commission a task force last year to improve teacher pay and retention. .
The political fight over school vouchers derailed the only school funding bill that had a chance of passing.
That proposal, House Bill 100, authored by Ken King, R-Canadian, would have given teachers modest raises, a average of an extra $100 a month, and helped ease school financial strains by increasing the base amount of money schools receive per student, reworking the state’s school funding formula and giving extra money to smaller school districts .
Districts across the state were hopeful the bill would pass and even delayed drafting their budgets or passing any raises until after the legislative session.
They were very disappointed. The bill died after Senate Republicans incorporated a voucher-like program into their version of the legislation, a move the House vehemently opposed.
“When you’re sitting on $30 billion at the state level, there’s no reason why public schools shouldn’t think they’re going to get a penny,” Ott said.
But there is still some hope left for them. Abbott has kept lawmakers in Austin for two special legislative sessions to pass property tax cuts. Last week, Senate Republicans added an amendment to the property tax bill that would give teachers in urban school districts a one-time bonus of $2,000 and those in rural districts $6,000 over the next two school years .
A similar proposal came up during the regular session in the form of Senate Bill 9, authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe. At the time, teachers and unions criticized using a district’s size to decide which educators get the biggest bonus, saying it’s a scattered way to determine who needs the most money.
Abbott is expected to call another special session this year to push school vouchers once again. The governor made vouchers one of his top legislative priorities this year, and his recent alignment with House Speaker Dade Phelan on how to lower property taxes could serve as a precursor to an alliance on the subject
Phelan formed a committee to focus on identifying “educational opportunities” while providing more financial support to schools. Commission members will meet publicly for the first time on Tuesday.
Rep. Gary VanDeaver, a New Boston Republican who serves on the committee, said a special session on public education would allow lawmakers to focus on finding a compromise. He said he would rather discuss the teachers’ approaches in committee than address them in any property tax legislation.
A Texas Tribune analysis shows that teachers in top suburban school districts are paid an average of about $61,432 a year and those in top urban school districts are paid an average of about $59,446 a year, nearly $10,000 more than those they teach in rural areas. But living costs tend to be higher in larger metropolitan areas.
House Democrats announced another property tax plan Thursday that would increase the base allocation schools receive per student, allowing them to pay for teacher raises. But it’s unclear whether the proposal will pass the Republican-dominated Legislature.
The Texas American Federation of Teachers, a group that represents about 66,000 teachers, support staff and higher education employees in the state, is urging lawmakers to pass the teacher pay proposals.
“I am grateful to see this issue addressed in a special session on property taxes, as there should be no tension between property tax relief for homeowners and renters and adequate funding for their community schools,” said Texas AFT President Zeph Capo. “This state has enough money in the bank to do both. It just lacks the political will.”
Some school districts have been able to pass raises and maintain balanced budgets without dipping into their savings. Del Valle ISD approved a 6 percent raise for its employees for the upcoming school year, along with other perks like a $1,000 professional development grant and discounted child care for teachers.
Annette Tielle, superintendent of Del Valle ISD, said the district did not have to rely on state lawmakers for funding because of the so-called Chapter 313 program, a business incentive plan that allowed school districts to give tax breaks to corporations that moved to their companies. areas In return, the schools get a share of the company’s revenue.
Del Valle ISD has a partnership with electric car maker Tesla, which has a factory within the district’s boundaries. The district received a large payout after the company’s property values were assessed higher than expected.
Critics of the program said that while it has been great for some districts’ finances, it leads to unequal school funding, with only districts lucky enough to attract corporations to their areas benefiting.
The Chapter 313 program was allowed to expire last year and lawmakers past a new version during the regular session. The program requires a 10-year commitment, but will be phased out for participating school districts and corporations when that time is up.
While districts that have benefited from the Chapter 313 program will start the year without financial headaches, others have long been unable to afford teacher raises.
At Fort Davis ISD, about 150 miles southwest of Odessa, Superintendent Graydon Hicks hasn’t given his teachers a raise since 2019, the last time the Legislature set aside money for it.
The small district of fewer than 200 students and about 20 teachers has been passing deficit budgets for the past nine years. This school year, it will be about $500,000 in the hole.
The district has already operated with the minimum requirements necessary to operate. It has no cafeteria, no art or technology programs. Hicks said there is nothing left to cut.
Hicks predicts the district will run out of money next year. If that happens, Fort Davis ISD could end up being absorbed into a larger district.
“I’m just frustrated. I’m angry,” he said. “It’s a shame we have politicians fighting for electoral talking points instead of fighting for children.”
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