Teacher pay
The Texas ISD median teacher average salary for this school year is $52,162, up 7.4 percent from last school year, according to data from 497 (out of
The median starting salary for a new teacher is $44,000, up 7.3 percent from last year. This year’s survey-reported median teacher starting salary is 31 percent higher than the state minimum beginning teacher salary of $33,660.
The highest reported beginning teacher salary is $61,116.
Click here for TASB's 2019-20 Texas ISD Superintendent salary survey results.
TRS News
The TRS recently distributed surveys to members (with a Jan. 21 response date) about whether the system should establish regional offices in various locations in the state to keep from having to travel to Austin for face-to-face counseling sessions.
The TRS emphasized that there have been no decisions about where regional offices might be located.
Staff has grown from 200 to about 700 since the current headquarters building was constructed, and TRS memberships have increased from 345,000 to 1.6 million during the same period. Guthrie said the current headquarters building can’t be expanded upward (due to state-law Capitol view protection restrictions).
In addition to establishing regional offices, other parts of the plan under consideration include: 1) leasing or selling the current headquarters building in downtown Austin to generate income and 2) relocating the headquarters to a more accessible satellite location somewhere in the Austin area that will provide enough space for staff and convenient parking for staff and members.
Meanwhile, previously announced plans to move the TRS’ investment staff, currently housed in a downtown Austin office space, to a new ultramordern office tower being constructed downtown, remains unchanged.
No firm decisions have been made on any part of the plan.
School Health News
- Food allergies — Applications (Word document) for membership in the state’s Food Allergy Ad Hoc Committee are being accepted until Feb. 13. School board members, superintendents, teachers, principals, school nurses, parents of students with food allergies and students with food allergies are among the many categories of positions on the committee to be filled.
Click
here for general info about state health advisory committees. - Vaping — An eight-page anti-vaping booklet for elementary school professionals has just been added to the state’s anti-vaping web page.
Also: As of Jan. 14
(updated data here), state health authorities reported 237 cases, including three deaths, of severe lung disease in people who reported vaping, almost all hospitalized and many in intensive care. Patients ranged in age from 13 to 75, with a median age of 22 and about a fourth of those affected are minors. Several patients reported vaping substances containing THC or marijuana, possibly in conjunction with other substances.Dallas County health authorities recently
reported the death of a 15-year-old from vaping related causes. Published reports reflect that this is believed to be one of the youngest vaping related fatalities reported in the nation thus far.
Email Scam
The 9,500-student Manor ISD (near Austin) reported that it is facing a loss of $2.3 million due to what city police there said was the district falling victim to an email phishing scam, reportedly due to three separate fraudulent transactions that happened in November. Police and the FBI are investigating. Further details were not available. The Texas Association of School Business Officials recently posted tips for districts to use in ensuring their electronic payments are protected.
Charter News
