New state law mandates teacher pay raises

Teachers returning to Galveston County schools will notice fatter paychecks this fall, thanks to a new state law mandating teacher pay raises.

But some school districts aren’t sure how to pay for the raises, especially since many are predicting budget shortfalls come fall.

The Legislature this summer passed House Bill 3646, requiring all Texas districts to give raises of at least $800 a year to all teachers, librarians, counselors, nurses and diagnosticians. To pay for the raises, the Legislature appropriated $2 billion in federal stimulus dollars meant to improve student achievement.

And while the U.S. Department of Education approved the state’s plan, the Texas Education Agency cautioned districts against using the federal dollars because they run out in two years.

Instead, the agency suggested school districts finance the state-mandated pay raises with state or local tax dollars to avoid the intense record keeping attached to stimulus dollars. Districts should use stimulus money instead to finance education reforms such as ensuring all schools have highly qualified teachers, preparing students for college, improving achievement in low-performing schools and refining data collection to accurately track student performance, the state agency said.

The conflicting messages have sent districts scrambling to figure out how to pay for state-mandated raises and how to use stimulus dollars.

Officials at some public school districts — including Clear Creek, Galveston and Texas City — said they won’t use the stimulus money to pay for the raises. Instead, Clear Creek and Galveston plan to spend stimulus dollars to bolster such programs as those that prepare students for college.

Texas City school district, which never planned to use the federal money to finance raises, has not finalized any plans for the stimulus dollars, spokeswoman Melissa Tortorici said.

Other districts, including Friendswood and La Marque, said they couldn’t have afforded the raises without the federal stimulus money.

According to preliminary budget figures, Clear Creek, Dickinson, La Marque and Texas City are projecting budget deficits of $1 million or more.

Friendswood and Galveston school districts are projecting budget surpluses.

Hitchcock and Santa Fe school districts did not provide budget records requested by The Daily News.

In Texas, teacher salaries have steadily increased in the past few years. Last year, the average starting salary for a new teacher was $34,252, up from $33,151 in 2007-08, according to the Texas Association of School Boards.