Stimulus funds bump up teacher pay raise

When the U.S. Department of Education released more than $2 billion in economic stimulus funds to Texas last week, it triggered a $1,104 pay raise for Brownsville Independent School District teachers.

The raise is in addition to a $696 increase teachers received under BISD’s 2009-2010 budget, which totals $493.1 million. The budget went into effect July 1 and includes a 4 percent raise for classified personnel and 2 percent for administrators.

Teachers ended up getting a $1,790 raise because of H.B. 3646, the school finance measure passed by the Texas Legislature, which uses federal economic stimulus funds to finance statewide teacher pay raises. Texas last week received permission from the Department of Education to use the economic stimulus funds.

H.B. 3646 requires BISD to award teacher pay raises of $60 per Weighted Average Daily Attendance, which totals $4.2 million and works out to about $1,104 per teacher, budget administrator Tony Fuller said. In addition, it requires BISD to award step, or cost of living, increases to teachers based on the district’s hiring schedule. That works out to $2.8 million, or $686 per teacher in most cases, for a total raise of $1,790.

As approved, the budget includes only the step raise, so a budget amendment will be necessary to add the additional funds, Fuller said. The $1,790 raise applies to teachers, librarians, nurses and counselors, he said.

Alberto Alegria, president of the Association of Brownsville Educators, which represents more than 3,400 BISD teachers, administrators and classified personnel, said the additional raise for teachers recognizes their crucial role in educating BISD students.

"We’re happy that the teachers are being recognized in such a manner," Alegria said, noting that the district continues to excel under the Texas Education Agency’s school accountability system.

Alegria said more and more schools are earning TEA recognized or exemplary ratings, which reflects well on all BISD personnel, teachers as well as administrators and classified personnel.

During the budget process, officials had expressed concern that paying for raises with stimulus funds that were going to dry up in two years was not a good idea. However, Alegria said there have been "good positive vibes" from the Legislature that state funding will continue after stimulus funds have been exhausted.