The Dallas Independent School District is making a strong statement to employees and prospective employees: it is willing to pay competitive salaries to recruit and retain high-performing staff.
A new administrator evaluation system that rewards principals for their effectiveness and performance caused principal salaries to increase by more than $9,000. And a new teacher evaluation system that will increase salaries for educators will go into effect next year.
“We want our principals and executive directors to have the most competitive salaries in North Texas,” said Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles. “We are moving in the same direction for teachers.”
The bump in salaries for principals, combined with a 3 percent raise approved by the Board of Trustees raised salaries to an all-time high in the district. For the first time, as many as 175 district employees, most of whom serve in a leadership capacity, are earning more than $100,000.
“We have a lot of work to do as a school district and I have very high expectations for every member of our staff, particularly those in leadership roles,” said Miles. “They routinely work long hours and are on call 24 hours a day. We will not apologize for doing all we can to recruit and retain top-level staff.”
Next year, the Teacher Excellence Initiative will be in its first year of implementation, making it possible for teachers to make significantly more than they have previously. Similar to the new principal evaluation system, teacher compensation will also reflect teachers’ performance with their students.
“Our teachers deserve to be compensated in a way that is commensurate with their performance in the classroom,” said Miles. “In the next few years, I firmly believe that Dallas ISD’s new salary structure will draw teachers from throughout the region to the district. The opportunity to be paid according to your overall effectiveness with students will be attractive to many and will only add to our current team of dedicated teachers and staff.”
Learn more about the district’s Teacher Excellence Initiative here.
