Austin ISD teachers and staff are asking the AISD board to implement a 4 percent pay increase for teachers and staff in the 2016-17 fiscal year.[/caption] Austin ISD teachers and staff are urging the AISD board of trustees to approve 4 percent pay raises for district staff. Before the AISD board heard a presentation on the school district’s fiscal year 2016-17 school year preliminary budget during its April 25 meeting, staff members and parents urged the board to implement a 4 percent employee pay raise in 2016-17 and plan for an additional 4 percent pay raise in 2017-18. Trustees including Jayme Mathias said some stories the board has heard about AISD teachers’ struggles have been “heart-wrenching.” “When we hear of teachers who are working at Home Depot rather than working on lesson plans … [and] last month we heard of teachers giving plasma to make ends meet … I would be happy to simply put my voice out there as supporting creative ways of looking at the limited funds that we have [to increase teacher pay],” Mathias said.

What’s in the proposed budget?

The district’s preliminary 2016-17 budget totals more than $1 billion and includes a 3 percent salary increase for regular full-time and part-time employees that will cost the district $15 million, Austin ISD Superintendent Paul Cruz said. The proposed budget also would increase the district’s minimum wage to $13 per hour, Cruz said. Property appraisal values are projected to increase by 14.9 percent, he said, adding there is no change in the preliminary budget to the district’s current maintenance and operations tax rate, and there is a 1-cent decrease projected on the interest and sinking tax rate. Property appraisal value increases will increase local revenue collections as well as recapture payments. Recapture is a system in Texas through which property-rich districts such as AISD are required by law to send money to the state to be redistributed among districts deemed property-poor. Board trustee Gina Hinojosa noted AISD is slated to pay about $400 million to the state in FY 2017 for recapture. The budget assumes there will be an enrollment decrease of 1,331 students, continuing a trend of enrollment decreases during the past few years. Enrollment affects how much funding the district receives from the state. In late 2015, the board approved a one-year, $350,000 marketing consultant contract to address maintaining enrollment at select schools. Budget discussions open to the public will take place May 9 and May 11, Cruz said. The board is scheduled to adopt the budget June 20.

Staff compensation

During the public comment period at the meeting, Ken Zarifis, president of Education Austin, the employees union for AISD, noted last year trustees heard from many teachers and employees dealing with issues such as rising real estate costs and wages not keeping up with the cost of living in Austin. ‘The challenges facing our employees remain. … That Austin is incredibly difficult to survive in is not this board’s fault, but to respond to that reality is this board’s responsibility,” he said. A few speakers said teachers have left the district for teaching jobs in other cities that offer more pay. Mark McKim, an Austin High School teacher assistant for special education, asked trustees to support the 4 percent raise plan and raise starting wages. “It is so difficult to afford decent quality of life in Austin … [and] our wages haven’t kept up,” he said, adding he lives in affordable housing and knows other T.A.s in the district who work part-time jobs. A few parents also encouraged the district to find funding for parent support specialists, which help parents find resources in AISD. Chantel Ullrich, a full-time library clerk at Crockett High School and a single mother, emphasized pay raises are not only important for teachers, but also other staff who interact with hundreds of children daily. The 3 percent salary increase staff received in 2016 is not enough, she said, adding she makes about $11 per hour before taxes and is eligible for food stamps. “I could walk across the street from my school and get a job at Dairy Queen starting at $12 an hour,” she said. “… I deserve to be paid like a professional and earn a living wage.”