Graphic by EJ Chong | Mercury Staff.
Richardson
Independent School District plans to raise new teacher salaries above area
average, a move that might boost recruitment of graduates of UTD’s teacher
certification program.
Currently,
the new teacher salaries for RISD are $52,275, which is below Frisco, Garland
and Plano ISD’s $53,000 and McKinney’s $53,850. Assistant Director of Student
Teaching and Field Experience at the Teacher Development Center Barbara Ashmore
said despite the salary differences, RISD has been one of the most popular
destinations for UTD teacher certification graduates.
For the 2018-2019 school
year, Frisco ISD raised its new teacher salary from $50,500 to $53,000 and
Plano ISD raised its new teacher salary from $52,000 to $53,000. Following a
salary study conducted by RISD, RISD Human Resources recommended to raise the
new teacher salary to $54,500 to stay competitive with area school districts.
Between
the spring and fall of 2018, 29 students completed their mandatory field work
at RISD.
Ashmore
said RISD is popular with students because of its reputation.
“(The
classes) are taught by full-time classroom teachers in Plano, Richardson (and)
Frisco,” Ashmore said. “That’s probably how they learn the most about the
districts.”
Frisco
ISD teacher and UTD lecturer Alyssa Ross teaches UTD classes for teacher
certification. For recruiting future teachers, she said it is important to let
them know that a school district is a professional learning community.
“When
we’re recruiting teachers, we want to make sure that they know they’re not on
their own, they have a part of a collaborative team that they can both give to
and bring their own fresh ideas to and at the same time have the experience of
someone else, so they don’t feel like they’re by themselves,” Ross said.
In an RISD Board of Trustees
work session, RISD Superintendent Jeannie Stone said RISD lost teachers to
other school districts because, in part, of salaries.
“There’s
been this correlation of us underinvesting in our teachers and every year
struggling with losing them to other school districts,” Stone said.
Ross said she has always
felt supported by her school district and that salary increases reflect how
society values teachers.
Child
development and psychology senior Leila Simmons said she’s wanted to be a
teacher since the age of 5 and that having a class taught by an elementary
teacher made her more excited to be a teacher. Simmons is pursuing field work
at Plano ISD.
“One of my professors (is)
currently (a teacher) in an elementary school in Plano ISD … and it’s really
cool to hear her experiences and see how excited she is to go to work
every day … it’s really inspirational,” Simmons said. “It makes me like a lot
more excited (to be a teacher).”
Teacher
salary is a consideration in choosing a school district, Simmons said, although
not the most important.
“(The
pay is) obviously not why I’m in the field because usually they don’t pay very
much, but it’s definitely a consideration,” Simmons said, “And so there are
school districts that pay more than others that might be more desirable because
schools that pay more are usually more satisfactory overall, but not always, of
course.”