Dallas ISD board approves $2 billion budget for next school year

The Dallas ISD board of trustees on Thursday approved a $2 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year — roughly a 7% overall increase from the previous year.

The budget includes increases for teacher compensation, student transportation and community services. But it also includes decreases for staff development, social work services and food services.

In a session focused on school safety and vouchers, the Texas Legislature did not increase the basic allotment schools receive per student. The current base allotment for schools is $6,160 per student, and it hasn’t been adjusted for inflation. Proposed bills that would have brought in additional funding for school districts across the state failed.

Dallas ISD scrambled to come up with a budget that ensured teacher salary increases, based on Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde’s priorities.

When Dallas ISD collects significantly more funding that is entitled based on enrollment, the state “recaptures” the surplus and redistributes it to other districts.

Even though over 85% of Dallas students are classified as economically disadvantaged, the district has been in the property-rich category since 2009 due to increasing property prices.

Tamika Alford-Stephens, chief financial officer for the district, estimates that this year’s recapture will be around $240 million.

Teacher pay

Prior to this year’s legislative sessions, Texas lawmakers pledged to work on solutions for teacher shortages.

But they failed to pass proposed bills that would increase teacher salaries. One House bill aimed to give school districts an extra $4.5 billion. But the Senate drastically changed the proposal to focus on a voucher-like program that allows parents to use public funds to pay for private schools for their children.

Democrats and rural Republicans have been resistant to vouchers. They say such programs would take away funding from public schools. Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, said in a statement that “teachers are punished over a political fight.”

“Holding teacher pay raises hostage to give public money to private schools is just wrong,” Elizalde, who has served as superintendent since July 2022, told in early June.

The lawmakers failed to find a compromise and the bill that would increase teacher salaries was killed.

As part of the budget, new teachers will have a starting salary at a minimum of $61,000 based on experience. The current average salary for DISD teachers is $64,020.

After the starting salary, the district compensates teachers based on a performance system called the Teacher Excellence Initiative, or TEI, that includes classroom observations, student evaluations and student achievement.

Under the new budget, TEI-eligible teachers will see an average salary increase of 3.3%. The actual amount would depend on their performance.

Other staff

Dallas ISD’s new budget includes an increase in the minimum wage to $16, which would apply to over 7,000 support and operations staff across the district.

About $63 million will be allocated to retention incentives for all employees based on performance. Those with an “unsatisfactory” performance will only receive $500, while those with “exemplary” or “master” performance will receive $4,000 in three installments throughout the school year.

Employees who have worked the district for five or more years will also receive an incentive of $1,000.

The budget for the 2023-2024 school year starts on July 1, 2023, and ends on June 30, 2024.