'I wouldn't panic so much': Austin-area educators ask voters to approve tax rate to bump up pay

Alessandria Garza knew she wanted to be a teacher back in eighth grade. She took one of those tests that tells you which careers are going to be the best fit. According to Garza, her results said she was destined to be an actress, lawyer or teacher.

"I had more of a passion for teaching than I did for wanting to be a lawyer," she said.

In a way, she ended up splitting the difference between actress and educator. Garza is in her fifth year of teaching theater arts to Manor ISD elementary students, and she loves what she does. She gets to help students work on public speaking, develop decision-making skills and find creative outlets. By the time her students are done with fifth grade, she said, they're ready for what's ahead.

"When they get to middle schools and high schools, they're just more confident than they were prior to not having a theater experience," she said. "I take really big pride in that."

Garza does not just enjoy what she does, she's good at it. Garza was the district's 2023-24 Elementary Teacher of the Year . Almost everyday, she said, she leaves work feeling replenished. But while teaching fills her cup, it does not fill her bank account.

"I don't want to water down when people are like 'we're teachers, we don't do it for the money.' Yes, that's so true. We don't. But at the same time I'm still a human being," she said.

Garza stands to get a raise if Manor ISD voters approve a new tax rate that is on the ballot for the Nov. 5 election.

Voters in a neighboring district, Austin ISD, will also be voting on a proposed tax rate that could raise the pay of staff like Lizeth Rodriguez. Like Garza, Rodriguez does not do her job because it pays well, but because she's passionate about it. She's been an AISD teacher assistant for 10 years.

"I love the relationship that I have built over time with parents and with the students. I feel like I have gained that trust and that's just very powerful for me," she said.

Also like Garza, Rodriguez isn't earning enough. She makes about $24 per hour and said she wouldn't be able to cover all of her family's living expenses without her husband's income.

"My income, I could probably pay a bill or two and then gas and food," she said. "That's about it."

Even with a two-income household, Rodriguez said she and her family can't afford to live in Austin. They moved to Bastrop, about an hour away from the Austin ISD elementary school she works at. But she said the long commute is worth it.

"My child also goes to AISD, which I swear, he tells me how much he loves his teachers," she said. "So, we also commute because I feel like he's also safe and the teachers there, they love him, they care about his education and well-being."

More school boards call tax rate elections to address budget deficits

Austin ISD and Manor ISD are among dozens of public school districts in Texas that have turned to voter-approval tax rate elections in recent years to help pay for staff raises and bridge funding gaps. According to the Texas Association of School Business Officials , last year alone, the school boards for more than 50 public school districts in the state put VATREs on the ballot. Forty-four were successful, while eight failed.

TASBO Deputy Executive Director Amanda Brownson said the main reason boards ask voters to approve a new tax rate is because public school funding isn't keeping up with inflation. She said while the Texas Legislature has increased funding for specific priorities like school safety and new instructional materials , lawmakers have not increased the base level of per student funding — known as the basic allotment — since 2019.

"When we were looking at the data, inflation's gone up more than 20% since the last time we saw a general purpose, basic allotment increase," she said. "And if school districts are trying to meet those inflationary cost pressures, it can be hard."

Brownson also pointed out that inflation impacts the value of staff salaries, because their dollars aren't going as far either.

"What [districts] have found is that the purchasing power of their staffs' take home pay has declined over time," she said.

Brownson said a tax rate election can help districts find the resources to increase employee pay that they might not otherwise be able to afford. In general, salaries account for about 80% of any school district's budget.

Like so many districts in Central Texas, both Austin ISD and Manor ISD have budget deficits. Austin ISD has a $119 million budget deficit. If the tax rate election fails, the only pay increase full-time employees will get this school year is a one-time payment of $500. Whether or not voters approve the new tax rate, Austin ISD is looking to make $92 million in spending cuts over the next three years to balance its budget.

Manor ISD has a $20.8 million deficit but managed to afford a 1% raise for staff. The district plans to offer higher raises if voters approve its proposed tax rate.

While both Austin ISD and Manor ISD plan to use any revenue generated from a successful tax rate election to increase staff pay, the specifics of each proposal and plan vary significantly.

What the Austin ISD VATRE means for compensation

If Austin ISD voters approve the proposed tax rate for 2024-25, it will increase by 9.1 cents per $100 of a property's taxable value. That means if the tax rate election or Prop A is successful, the new tax rate will be $0.9505, up from $0.8595.

So what does that mean for your tax bill? Well, someone with a home valued at $553,493, for example, would see their Austin ISD property taxes increase by an additional $34 per month, according to the district.

The increase would generate $171 million in new revenue for Austin ISD, but the district will only keep $41 million of it. The rest is subject to the state's recapture system, which redistributes what the state's school finance formulas say is excess funding from property wealthy school districts to ones with lower property values. Austin ISD plans to use $17.8 million of the $41 million it would keep on a compensation plan it negotiated with Education Austin, a union representing Austin ISD employees.

When school was out for Indigenous Peoples' Day, supporters of Prop A held a news conference urging people to approve the new rate. Among them was Rodriguez. She said raises were essential for teacher assistants like her because they play an important role in the classroom but are typically underpaid.

"Minimal compensation will make it difficult for schools to keep on qualified teacher assistants, which would increase teachers' workloads and decrease student to teacher support," she said.

Rodriguez is one of the roughly 6,500 Austin ISD employees who would get a raise if voters approve the tax rate increase. The raise would be retroactive to the start of the school year.

Brandi Hosack, Austin ISD's chief of talent strategy, said the district's compensation plan focuses on market adjustments to ensure its salaries are competitive with other districts.

"In a market adjustment not everyone is guaranteed to receive an adjustment or the same adjustment, it really depends on your personal years of experience in the system and where you are compared to the pay scale," she said.

Hosack said doing this type of adjustment every four to five years is important especially as the salaries of new teachers gain on what teachers with more experience are making. She said, based on last year's data, salaries for new Austin ISD teachers are on par with other districts.

"Where we start to lose traction is in the seasoned teacher years. Beyond five years of teaching we really start to see the gap widen between Austin ISD and surrounding school districts, especially at the 10, 15, 20-year mark," she said. "Essentially what's happening is we're losing our veterans."

Hosack said the district is still crunching the numbers, but she estimates about 60% of Austin ISD teachers will get a raise to make their salaries on par with other Austin-area districts. While market adjustments mean raises will vary, the compensation plan does guarantee at least a $0.25 per hour increase for classified staff, such as bus drivers and custodians. Under the plan, Austin staff in executive-level positions will not be eligible for a market-rate increase.

"We are strictly aiming for our positions that are in front of our students every single day — the ones that are just churning out the work and we want to make sure that we sink every single dollar into our teachers and into our classified staff," she said.

Manor ISD employees set to get additional 2% raise if voters approve VATRE

While Austin ISD voters will be deciding whether to increase the tax rate, Manor ISD voters are going to see their 2024-25 property tax rate decrease regardless of what they decide. The question they're deciding is how much the tax rate will drop.

The 2023-24 Manor ISD tax rate is $1.0861 per $100 of a property's taxable value. If voters reject Prop A, the 2024-25 tax rate will decrease to $1.0514.

If voters approve Prop A, the tax rate will also drop from the current rate to $1.0814 — the lowest it's been since 2015. This means someone with a home of average value, which is $233,192, will see their Manor ISD property taxes decrease by about $10 per year.

The new tax rate, if approved, would generate $4.8 million in new revenue. Unlike Austin ISD, none of that funding is subject to recapture, meaning all of it would stay within the district to be spent on three priorities: raises, reducing the budget deficit and school safety.

The Manor ISD school board previously approved a 1% salary increase for employees, but if voters approve the new tax rate, they'll get an additional 2% raise. For Garza, seeing her raise increase from 1% to 3% would take some of the pressure off her tight budget.

When Garza started teaching in 2020, her salary was just under $50,000. This year she's earning $57,700 before taxes. That salary is just enough to cover essentials like rent, transportation and groceries — all things that have gotten more expensive since she started. Garza said she sometimes works a side gig to be able to afford more than just the basics.

"Ends are met, but then there's no joy in life, like there's no way for me to go enjoy things I want to do as a human being, cause I'm more than just a worker," she said.

Garza said if voters approve the new tax rate, the additional 2% raise would be a big help. She said right now she has about $500 left over each month that isn't going to things like groceries, rent, gas and car insurance. If the VATRE is successful, she expects that $500 she isn't spending on essentials will increase to $700 or $800.

"That would mean all the difference for me, and I wouldn't panic so much," she said.

What happens if the tax rate elections fail

Garza and Rodriguez are both concerned about what's at stake if voters in their respective districts don't approve new tax rates.

Rodriguez said voting for Austin ISD's proposed tax rate isn't just about staff raises, it's about supporting students.

"You're giving back to the community, you're giving back to your own children," she said.

Garza, for her part, wants to stay in the field but wonders how sustainable this career will be in the long-run if the pay doesn't keep up with living expenses. She has seen that take a toll on other friends who graduated and started teaching when she did.

"I think out of the 24 of us, maybe seven or eight of us are still teaching," she said. "Thinking about that, I do get worried."

She said it's hard to feel like something like buying a house is out of reach. But she doesn't see herself leaving education and she said students deserve experienced teachers. She thinks of her grandfather who instilled in her that knowledge is power.

"My abuelo always told me 'la educación es la única cosa que nadie te puede quitar,' which translates to your education is the only thing nobody can take from you," she said. "And that is so powerful."

Garza has seen how education has shaped her life and opened doors for her. She wants her students to have the same opportunities.

"Our kids deserve to see every single door and have the tools to choose the door for them. I don't think kids should just be presented [with] Door A and Door B, and 'hey let's flip a coin.' That's a cheated life experience," she said. "Our kids deserve a lot more and that's the beauty of education."