The Brownsville Independent School District plans $4,000 across-the-board raises for teachers, librarians and professional support staff in 2022-2023, along with a $15 minimum wage for all classified employees including bus drivers, custodians, food service workers and others.
The BISD Board of Trustees is scheduled to vote on the proposal at its June 23 meeting, in time for the raises to go into effect with the 2022-2023 budget on July 1.
The BISD budget committee announced the raises Tuesday afternoon amid cheers from employee groups who said the plan represents a welcome first step toward bringing wages up to par with other Rio Grande Valley districts.
After committee chairwoman Prisci Roca Tipton announced the details, vice chairwoman Daniela Lopez Valdez thanked all parties who contributed to bringing the process to this point. She thanked Superintendent René Gutiérrez’s staff, including Chief Financial Officer David Robledo and others, for providing information crucial to putting the proposal forward.
“Despite dealing with the inherited issues of poor raises over the past 12 years, coming back from a pandemic and unjust demands from the state on our public educators … We have been able to come together as a district,” she said, thanking Gutierrez for “making the tough decisions necessary to right-size the district to make sure our front-line staff get the raises that they so rightfully deserve.”
In addition to the $4,000 teacher raise, the plan includes various stipends, including for special education teachers, who will see their class sizes double from nine to 18 students.
The $15 per hour minimum for classified employees also includes a provision that those who already receive $15 per hour or more will receive a $1 per hour raise from their current rate. Bus drivers are guaranteed 40 hours per week.
Esmeralda Garcia Barrajas, a member of BEST AFT and a special education teacher, said the group was pleasantly surprised with the proposal.
“This is the first time that they’ve actually met us at the raise that we’ve asked. … However our concern, especially for me as a special education teacher, is that they are raising our ratios from nine students per special education teacher to 18, which is doubling the ratio,” she told The Brownsville Herald.
Garcia Barrajas said it seems to amount to twice as much work for a $4,000 raise but added “we are still very much appreciative. … Most of us are excited and positive about it but definitely we would like to see every year to get a raise that goes along with the cost of inflation and what’s comparable to other districts.”
Other groups including the Association of Brownsville Educators and Texas Valley Educators Association expressed gratitude for the raises.
However, during the public comment period, Tim Ramirez of AOBE pointedly stated the salaries that BISD’s top 12 administrators receive. He said together the 12 earn $2.14 million annually.
AOBE organizer Ida Abeldano urged group members to continue to push for pay equity and better working conditions.
Adena Alegria, TVEA executive director, thanked the committee for the proposed raises and said she hopes to see them come to fruition at next week’s board meeting.
