Texas Teacher Salaries Continue Slow Rise

Texas public school teachers saw their salaries rise slightly last year, but it was still among the lowest pay raises in the last decade. The Texas Association of School Boards published its annual teacher salary survey today. TASB’s human resources chief Cindy Clegg says the average teacher salary increased by 1.6 percent in the 2012-13 school year to $49,139.

“We do these every year. We’ve been doing this since 1984. And for the last three years or so, these pay raises for teachers are the lowest we’ve ever seen," Clegg said. "School districts have had funding cuts from the state. They've had to lay off a lot of teachers, and their future revenue sources are uncertain."

However, fewer school districts enacted teacher pay freezes this year. Last school year, about half of school districts tracked by TASB froze teacher salaries. This school year, it was fewer than 20 percent of districts. 

Last year, the Austin school district approved a one-time pay raise of 3 percent for all employees. It cost the district slightly more than $14 million.