Chris Bell Proposes Teacher Pay Raise

On the eve of Gov. Perry rolling out his new tax plan, Chris Bell was in Austin telling it like it is and advocating a $6,000 per year across-the-board pay raise for Texas teachers. And, his goals don’t include simply making Texas schools academically sufficient or quick-fix financing schemes:

“I have called for a moon shot for public education to build the best public schools in the country within the next 10 years. That’s going to take new investment in classrooms and an extended period of experimentation, commitment and focus.” “But first of all, having the best schools in the country will require putting the schools back in school finance reform,” he said. “Rick Perry is happy with a merit teacher pay raise plan that would help only 1 percent of all teachers. I want an across-the-board pay raise with a dependable funding source.”

In addition to discussing his plans for education finance and teacher pay, Bell rightfully called out Perry and noted his real intention isn’t to help Texas school children and public school employees. Via AP:

“Rick Perry’s biggest priority is to pass a tax cut,” Bell said, emphasizing his own agenda of improving public schools.

It should be abundantly clear to Texas voters that Rick Perry’s real interest is to appeal to the rabid anti-tax mongers and Grover Norquist clones within his own party, many of which include his largest financial supporters. Bell, on the other hand, has a different priority, and one far more in tune with the mainstream than Perry:

“My top priority is different. Texas can have the best public schools in the country, but only if we avoid a fiscal ’sugar rush’ that would use $1 billion from the budget surplus to soothe our craving for a tax cut at the expense of a balanced revenue diet for our schools.”

The ‘fiscal sugar rush’ is, of course, a proposal to pull $1 billion out of an estimated revenue surplus combined with an increased cigarette tax to lower property taxes, a measure proposed by Perry’s Texas Tax Reform Commission. Back on the subject of teacher pay, for those of you who are unaware, base pay for Texas teachers is mandated by the state, and TEA publishes a minimum pay scale every two years (current scale here). This is exclusive of any local supplements offered by school districts throughout the state; not all school districts offer or are able to offer supplements. Starting pay for a first-year teacher in Texas is $24,820—before taxes, retirement contributions and insurance.

This pay scale ranks Texas 33rd in the nation in terms of teacher pay. Since I know a lot of college students read this blog (and, no doubt, some of you may become teachers), it’s important to note that, in the grand scheme of things, $24,000 isn’t that much.

And, if you taught for 20 years (again exclusive of local supplements) you’d make a whopping $41,770 annually. In most fields that require professional certification and at least a bachelor’s degree, you’d make a lot more after 20 years. Another thing about Texas’ teacher pay scale is that it tops out at 20 years. So, (again, exclusive of local supplements) if you teach 21 years or 35 years, you’re maxed out.

My step-mother is a teacher with well more than 20 years experience, and I can tell you, teachers don’t like this set of facts–especially in districts with little or no local supplement packages. The bottom line is that Chris Bell has a plan to help Texas teachers and Rick Perry does not. By helping Texas teachers, it takes no genius to realize that it will end up bringing more qualified professionals into the field to ease teacher shortages. Furthermore, a merit-based pay increase is a joke, especially if it’s based on standardized testing. Keep in mind that some of the same people who brought the phrase “school vouchers” into the public lexicon also came up with merit-based teacher pay.

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