BackI spend quite a bit of time on campuses and marvel at what you do everyday. When I volunteer through the Junior Achievement for a Day Program I come home physically and emotionally exhausted and in awe of your daily contribution to the quality of our children’s education.
I do not think it is possible you could have a better friend on the school board than I. Each year school board candidates talk about doing better by our teachers. The challengers and incumbents all agree we need to do more. But when the campaign is over and the rhetoric dies down all we have is silence and little else.
By using the tabs above you will find quite a bit of reading material. These are position papers I issued in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Much of it has to do with teachers & staff and what I believe is the district’s obligation to support your efforts.
Mr. Frailey has proclaimed Katy ISD as the “destination district,” a place where people send their children for an outstanding educational opportunity. I know this is true due to the efforts of our classroom teachers and staff.
I have floated a few test balloons over the years about teacher compensation. Long before the economic meltdown I suggested a 15% across the board increase. I was embarrassed to suggest such a low sum, but further surprised when I was told I had lost my mind due to its cost. I then suggested we do something to reward our master teachers for their continuing service to our district and recommended we pay more for each year of service especially to those who had given 20 years or more of their lives to public education.
I find it distressing it takes 35 years before a KISD Master Teacher makes 50% more than a starting teacher! I asked people on the school board if they would have begun their career if they had been shown such a document forecasting their future economic situation. All said they would not. Please see the current Teacher Pay Scale.
I have been told repeatedly “teachers don’t do it for the money”. Well that seems quite obvious to me, and the people telling me this always make more than teachers.
I work with parents every week concerned about how to pay for their children’s education. Teachers share their concern. The “good news” is a single mom or dad working for Katy ISD with two kids at home and one going to college qualifies for a hardship Pell Grant! Quite a situation for a professional person, don’t you think?
I know we will continue to be asked to pay for more schools and improvements to older facilities through higher taxes given our growth rate. While we can’t pay teacher salaries with school bonds, we can go directly to the voters asking them if they believe teachers deserve more. I have suggested this, but so far there is no taste on the part of the board to do so.
Taxpayers know our total tax load will never decrease, it goes up yearly and it is a burden on all of us to pay ever increasing taxes. However I believe as the argument continues to be made for more brick and mortar, we can ask voters to approve measures designed to help improve the lot of our people. I believe this is a matter the board can take upon itself, but can certainly put on a ballot asking our parents to decide what they value most. I believe they will choose, “our kids and their teachers.”
What follows on the next "Vision" tab was first published in February of 2007. The status two years later is unchanged. This is why I am seeking election in 2009.
“Vision 2007” was put forward as a “budget neutral” initiative and still deserves consideration. However in 2009, I believe we must additionaly address campus staffing and employee compensation.
For some teachers the 2008 three percent (3%) salary adjustment did not keep pace with the increase in KISD insurance premiums and coupled with a reduction of benefits the net result was a decline in take home pay. Making matters worse, in 2007 the Texas Legislature reduced teacher pensions via the new “five year average” rule affecting all district employees under the age of 50!
Teachers use personal funds every year to subsidize their classrooms. This is so prevalent the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a special line item deduction allowing teachers to re-coop some of these expenses. Many Katy ISD teachers spend far more than this deduction allowance.
What I have in mind and how I propose to do it, will take more room than this space allows, but please know I am concerned about the income trend facing our teachers. Couple this with a retirement plan which has not provided retired teachers a cost of living increase in more than 8 years and you realize low pay is not only a condition of a teacher’s working life but will follow him or her into retirement. When you consider virtually all teachers will not qualify for social security benefits, even as a surviving spouse, their financial security is doubtful.
Katy ISD rightly prides itself on the quality of our professional staff, but given the current trend, we may not be able to sustain this condition as there is a nationwide teacher shortage we cannot afford to ignore. By some estimates 35+% of KISD teachers are within a few years of retirement and our most junior teachers have a very high attrition rate during their first five years. We must do more to retain and expand our experienced pool of professional educators if KISD is to continue as an above average school district.
Our school board needs to positively and responsibly provide leadership so that our teachers and staff can continue to care for our children’s education, safety, and security. I encourage you to come to the polls, vote, bring a friend and make your voice known on these and other issues.
The Katy ISD school board should immediately begin negotiations with Houston Community College expanding the scope of dual credit college courses ensuring KISD students can earn 30 hours or more of accredited college course work prior to graduation. Additionally, the board should request HCC provide access to all the course work necessary for certification in emergency medical training (EMT), automobile technology; including ASE certification programs, IT applications, criminal justice and other programs at the Miller Career Center.
The Katy ISD school board should immediately enter into strategic partnerships with local and distance universities for the purpose of obtaining steep discounts on tuition and fee schedules for KISD teachers and staff personnel who wish to continue their professional studies.
The Katy ISD school board should immediately certify various teaching disciplines as “critical need” in order to secure U.S. Dept. of Education, loan forgiveness benefiting teachers and staff working towards both under and post graduate studies in return for their service to KISD.
The Katy ISD school board should begin the mobilization of local citizen and business involvement with the object of securing educational funding sources for teachers and staff wishing to continue their professional training and service to KISD.
The Katy ISD school board should immediately empanel a committee of business professionals knowledgeable in employee benefits, structured professional guidance, and tax planning; aimed at increasing take home pay for all personnel.
The Katy ISD school board should entertain discussion of “magnet school concept” focusing on its cost, practicability and educational effectiveness in Katy ISD.