HISD gives lower salaries than promised

from July 20, 2023

by Defender Media Group |DefenderNetwork

Is the New Education System to blame for HISD teacher exodus?

By Amaka Watson

During a recent HISD family event session at the headquarters, frustrations arose among some Houston ISD teachers who discovered that their contract ofers included lower salaries than anticipated.

Tese revelations have sparked concerns among educators regarding the fairness and transparency of the New Education System (NES) implemented by Superintendent Mike Miles.

Te recently published NES salary tables reveal a salary range for elementary teachers starting at $63,000 and reaching a maximum of $110,000. Middle school salaries range from $65,000 to $110,000, while high school teachers can expect a minimum of $70,000 with a maximum salary of $115,000. Te salaries are infuenced by the subjects taught and the teachers' level of experience.

However, some teachers expressed disappointment as they had expected higher minimum salaries.

"Our experienced teachers are being given lower salaries and I hope that's not the case," said Michelle Williams, President of the Houston Education Association. "I hope you are not weeding out veteran teachers... research does not support inexperience teachers with high needs students."

Miles reassured the crowd that NES teachers will be making what was promised.

"You should be happy about that, as a person who supports teachers that at least 28 schools have much higher salaries than average," Miles said. "If your salary for some reason is lower than the salary we ofered...you will receive the salary that you would have received this year."

Teachers have taken to social media to address their concerns about the lack of information from their school district about their contracts.

A teacher, who has been teaching at HISD schools for three decades, wrote on Facebook that they were frst ofered $105,000, then later received a call reducing the ofer to $92,000.

“I had already accepted an ofer of 105 she said she would make a note of that and hung up,” their post read. “Ten I get an email stating I'm getting $92,000. I have literally lost $13,000 over a weekend.”

Many teachers were concerned because they didn’t know their salary until a day afer the July 14 resignation deadline. By state law, teachers must announce their resignations 45 days before the frst day of school or face certifcation penalties. An NES-approved elective teacher with fve years of experience, who did not want to be named due to fear of retribution, expressed her dissatisfaction around the current pay structure of the HISD.

HAVE

Your symptoms may point to something more serious like ATTR-CM (transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy), a rare and underdiagnosed disease that gets worse over time. It afects the heart and other parts of the body, causing symptoms that may seem unrelated.