Teachers in the Dallas Independent School District are being lured as far away as San Antonio with promises of increases in salary. Many are doing more than considering the offer, and even the district admits the offers are hard to match.
San Antonio is sponsoring job fairs for their Pre-K 4 SA educational initiative in the Metroplex, attracting the attention of veteran Dallas teachers like Renee Moore, who explained to News 8 reporter, Carla Wade, in an interview on Friday, April 5, “The last couple of years, [with] the previous administration, it was kind of helter-skelter. And, then with the new administration, it hasn’t gotten any better.” The new San Antonio educational initiative is funded by a one-eighth cents sales tax for eight years and is seeking teachers to fill more than 100 teaching positions. Salaries for master teachers start at $60,000 a year.
The decision to relocate is about more than just salary, however. Dallas teachers are not feeling their contributions are appreciated and acknowledged by DISD administration. Moore, who has taught in Dallas for more than ten years, admitted in Friday’s interview, “We are under an extensive amount of pressure.” Another teacher who preferred not to be identified added, out of frustration with Superintendent Mike Miles, “Shake the hands of teachers. Shake the hands of the people that come to school every single day, and kind of thank them. Don’t just go there willing to attack, attack.”
According to Dallas ISD administration, proposed teacher pay increases and a pay-for-performance proposal are expected to be offered and implemented the 2013 school year. DISD spokesperson, John Dahlander, stated in defense of those upcoming changes to teachers' pay in that same interview, “It should make our teachers among the highest paid in the country.”
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