By DANIEL VASQUEZ RODRIGUEZ
Special to the NEWS
Board Trustees of the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District have approved a new pay schedule for teachers and staff. A faulty pay schedule that was adopted for 2015-2016 school year spurred board trustees to revise and propose a new salary program, which was accepted by a majority vote.
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I second that suggestion….
Will mabe if they pay them $25,000 a year they can do better then can focus to teachngi and not the money they make and eat trotilla and beans like our ansetors,instead of buy cheap mercedes benez or cheap bmw’s
Spell check, say it with me….. spell check!
Learn to read Deep down you can read even read my toughts. And your there sitting worring about spelling. When you even have to spell correctly to get across to people. It stead of sayin git think about it use your brian for one.
Grass and Honestly,
Thank you for your dedication to the children of SB. We need more individuals that care more about the children over their pay. A good teacher is not in it for the money. The rewards of being a teacher go way beyond a pay check. I urge you to please hang in there. In recent years, SBCISD had been left in a horrible state. The fund balance is significantly depleted, and it will take more than a year or two to get back to the years when you were given yearly (and correct) wages, and when administration was held accountable. There is so much that can be said about those that receive a hefty salary yet do nothing for the district, but it would be like talking to a blank wall. All we can do now is wait…wait…wait… for a Superintendent that will come in and handle business the way it’s supposed to be handled. No more favorites, and more accountability. If those individuals leading the district that are making 70+ grand want to keep their jobs, they better get on board and earn their pay.
Alright folks just wanted to give you some information about our pay in San Benito compared to other districts. I will just address 4 salaries steps we could be here all day if I went step by step. SB starting pay is $42,500, Brownsville starts at $41,672, Harlingen starts at $45,500, and Weslaco starts at $46,900. Now let’s move on to a teacher with 5 years of experience at these same districts. SB is at $44,400. Brownsville at $43,816, Harlingen $47,000, and Weslaco $49,900. So far I feel for the staff members at BISD but let’s move on to teachers with 10 years of experience. SB is at $46,700, Brownsville at $47,456, Harlingen at $49,000, and Weslaco at 52,700. We can start seeing that SB brings up the rear so let’s move on to teachers with 20 years of experience. SB is at $51,400, Brownsville at $54,734, Harlingen at $54,300, and Weslaco at $58,210. You might say if you don’t like your pay move to the other districts but is that really the answer. SB teachers for years have stayed here not for the main office or administration but for the kids and the relationship that teachers form with students year after year. That bond has been the glue that has held us here at SB but time after time getting kicked in the face the glue is coming apart and I’m not sure what SB will look like next year. I’m sure you’re thinking I’m writing this on behalf of a school board member but I’m writing this from the side of a staff member, a proud SB staff member who is tired of getting kicked around. The sad part is I really think the board thinks that everything is okay after Monday’s board approval moving all of us to the new hire salary schedule. Board members were not happy from the insurance debacle to us being under paid so my numbers proved that by the way staff members are treated. I want the community to know if a teacher left the district or retired last school year most were not replaced while the main office gained positions. Look at the high school – most core departments need from 1 to 3 teachers but they hired a new Assistant Principal. Let’s make sure that the main office and administration are not overworked but teachers with class sizes over 30 is okay. So I ask where are our priorities and where does the SB cash go – not to the teachers. I mean real teachers not what you put down on paper. SB is in sad shape but I want the community to know your kids are taken care of when they enter my door and my colleagues’ doors in spite of the low moral.
I agree with you about teacher pay compared to administrator pay. We pay more than the premium when it comes to admin positions, but our teachers are paid below state levels. HOWEVER, you can not compare 3 school districts that although are 6A like ourselves have a bigger budget, more students(funding from state), etc. Brownsville’s working budget is in excess of $400 million compared to SB’s. Harlingen and Weslaco’s as well are way over $100 million compared to SB. San Benito CISD’s is between $80-90 million. There is just more money. The new salary schedule will not make everyone happy, but its a start. Lots of changes need to be made. We need to take care of our teachers. Each one of them makes a direct impact to our students. We have way to many Directors that only handle one job. Most other school districts have these Directors handling 2 to 3 departments. Thats the way it should be. We’d literally save on millions of yearly salary.