At the July 24, 2006 KISD board meeting our President Carrie Lowery was the lone public speaker. Parts of her speech were later quoted in the Houston Chronicle. ATPE was in attendance, but did not have a comment for the board on behalf of their members. TFT was missing in action. To find the Chronicle article, you can go to
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/katy/news/4069326.html
The text of Carrie’s speech is below:
July 24, 2006
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board, Dr. Merrell, and other Administrators, Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you tonight.
It is that time of year again where you as members of the Board are forced to put a dollar amount for the compensation of the job of teaching in Katy ISD. Most teachers would no doubt explain their motivation for working with children without including their salary, yet, here we are again.
Last year I came before you and explained, “While We’d like more, we’ll settle for 4.” You approved a 4% pay raise and teachers were appreciative.
Across the state, we have a teacher shortage. Over 53,000 classrooms were staffed by inappropriately certified teachers last year. Over 600,000 individuals in Texas are certified, but choose not to teach. Why? I’m sure it is for a variety of reasons, but one of the greatest reasons is due to the lack of compensation. The cost everyday necessities such as groceries, gasoline, and utilities have all increased of the last year-the State has awarded us a $2,000 pay raise to try to alleviate this problem making teaching more attractive.
On Wednesday night, there was discussion of approving a starting salary of $41,000 for new teachers, and not granting additional raises for teachers with experience. I am here tonight to ask you to reconsider. As a teacher with 10 years of teaching, last year I finally passed the 41,000 mark. I taught for 9 years making less than what this years teachers will make from day one. While I agree recruiting new teachers is important, I would offer retaining our teachers with experience is even more critical to our continued success.
Teachers with experience have numerous benefits.
Teachers with experience benefit the district by: leading trainings, in-services, serving on committees and providing input for curriculum changes.
Teachers with experience benefit schools by: serving on campus advisory teams, leading teams or departments, mentoring new teachers and perhaps most important, teachers with experience benefit schools by providing consistency and increasing the cultural capital of the school. I teach at Katy Elem. (a campus where the average experience is 15 years). Our school succeeds because the members of our staff are committed to kids and have worked together for years to do whatever it takes for student success. Teachers with experience benefit students: They have more strategies, more knowledge more ways to bring out the best in a child. They also know how to communicate with parents and the community.
If you agree that veteran teachers provide benefits to our district, I would ask you to this year prove to them that “Experience pays and Katy ISD will pay your for your experience.”
Thank you again for your time and consideration.