Larger Pay Increases Expected This Year

Texas districts report planning larger pay increases this year compared to last.

Planned pay increases are approximately 3 percent for teachers, clerical/paraprofessionals, and auxiliary employees, and 2.5 percent for administrators and professional employees (statewide medians). Results come from 402 district participants, representing all 20 ESC regions.

Survey participants will receive a more detailed report of pay increase data on May 12. The TASB HR Services Pay Increase Quick Poll was sent to district survey contacts April 12, with reminder emails through the month. Data collection closed May 4.

Comparisons to Last Year

Last year, the median planned pay increase was 2 percent across all job groups, was consistent across enrollment sizes, and varied only slightly across ESC regions.

In contrast, this year the statewide median increased for all job groups and the values do vary notably by enrollment size and ESC. Participating districts with enrollment between 1,000 and 50,000 are giving larger increases compared to participants with fewer than 1,000 students or 50,000 or more students.

Additional changes compared to last year:

• More participating districts plan to give a pay increase—90 percent this year, compared to 85 percent last year.
• Approximately five times as many respondents plan increases of 4 percent or higher
• Only one-third as many plan a 1 percent increase, and only half as many plan a 1.5 percent

Nonexempt Hourly Rates

In addition to higher pay increases, many districts are raising hourly rates for nonexempt staff to remain competitive with local employers.

Best practice is to accomplish this by:

• Applying a general pay increase to all employees in a group,
• Following that with additional pay adjustments to move existing staff above the new pay range minimums, and
• Ideally spreading employees out based on experience.

It’s necessary to review pay for existing employees to ensure they are paid equitably compared to new hires. This also improves employee morale and retention.