AUSTIN, Texas — Austin ISD and Education Austin have agreed to raise teacher salaries by 7%.
The Board of Trustees unanimously approved a new compensation package on Thursday night. The package includes a 7% raise for all teachers, librarians, counselors, instructional coaches and special educators. The district said employees would receive "the better of the percentage increase or a placement on a new step of the career ladder."
Right now, the median starting pay for an AISD teacher is around $55,000. With this raise, that will increase to nearly $59,000.
For third-grade teacher Laura Zapata, it's a big step.
"We're finally, slowly but surely, being recognized for what we do and what teachers bring to the table," Zapata said.
In addition to the raise for teachers and related positions, a $4 per hour pay increase will be given to all IT specialists, instructional and non-instructional support, auxiliary workers, bus drivers and school police. As a result, minimum pay for those groups will rise from $16 an hour to $20 an hour.
Maria Rodriguez, a bilingual and special education teacher's assistant at Wooldridge Elementary, will soon see that $4 raise. She moved here from Mexico when she was 10 and was an AISD student herself, so she said this support means a lot.
"I was a migrant student, as you would call. And so I admired one of my teachers. And so, I always said I wanted to be a teacher," Rodriguez said.
Special education and bilingual stipends will be also raised to $7,000.
Ken Zarifis, the president of Education Austin, said this is a huge start, but there's more work to be done.
"How do we make sure that we don't just stop at these pay increases, but that we build on them for next year, because it's not going to slow down?" Zarifis said.
"I myself was not able to afford Austin and I got pushed into Manor, and I feel like finally, slowly but surely, we can work our way back," Zapata said.
Zarifis noted a move like this shows the start of a positive partnership between the union and AISD's board.
Other arrangements regarding pay grades were also agreed to.