SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio ISD Board of Trustees will soon consider the largest salary increase offered to staff in the last 25 years.
“This compensation package represents a significant investment in people who educate, feed, transport, and support our students,” said Alejandra Lopez, president of San Antonio Alliance, Local 67.
The compensation package on the table for next school year amounts to nearly $20 million, with more than half of the funds benefiting teachers.
First year teachers with a bachelor’s degree employed by SAISD currently make $55,609 a year while educators with 30 years of experience take home a little over $63,000.
Union members rallied during last week’s school board meeting, advocating for a substantial pay raise by sharing stories of struggle.
“Many of them shared very personal testimony about the struggles that they’ve encountered, whether they are a teacher, an instructional assistant, a custodian and this has been one of our organizing priorities for this year,” Lopez said.
District officials noted in a press release how the compensation plan is made possible due to Central Office budget cuts, which equaled $16 million in 2022-2023 with another $6.5 million in 2023-2024.
While the compensation plan is still being finalized before going to the board for a vote, Lopez is hopeful by support expressed by trustees.
“On the teacher’s side, it’s looking like the package that is being recommended by the superintendent is a 4% general pay increase for everyone and then a quarter of percentage on top of that for every year of service. Up to 9% for our educators who’ve been inside the classroom 25 years or more,” Lopez said.
Superintendent Jaime Aquino stated in the district’s release:
“The overarching objective is to offer staff a compensation package that leads the regional market, while remaining within the limits of a five-year plan for a sustainable budget.” “The district has absorbed large expenditure cuts in order to be able to afford this compensation package.”
Lopez stressed hiring and maintaining high quality educators is crucial to ensuring student success.
“As a teacher myself, I can tell you that our experienced educators are absolutely vital to the success of our schools. We do lose experienced educators to other districts because their hourly and daily rate is higher.”
The San Antonio Alliance is hosting a town hall at 2 p.m. at 120 Adams St. on Saturday.
April 17 is when the SAISD Board of Trustees will vote on the proposed compensation plan.