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Frequently Asked Questions: HB 1
Q. Who is getting a pay raise, and when does it go into effect?
A. HB 1 increases pay for teachers, counselors, nurses and librarians, and goes into effect with the beginning of the 2006-07 school year. With the exception of the health insurance supplement, the state does not exercise control over compensation for other employees such as paraprofessionals, and despite our efforts has been reluctant to do so. Therefore, districts may choose to increase salaries for other employees, but are not required to do so by HB 1.
Q. I’m confused about the pay raise – are we getting $2,500, $2,000 or $1,500?
A. This issue has become a little confusing due to differences in how the new legislation has been described. Technically, the bill increases salaries by $2,500. However, this includes the existing $500 health insurance supplement, which the bill converts to salary. The actual salary increase is $2,000.
Some have chosen to call the raise a $1,500 pay increase plus restoration of the $1,000 health insurance supplement (which was reduced to $500 in 2003). It doesn’t matter which way it is phrased – the end result is the same: a $2,500 increase, $2,000 of which is an actual increase and $500 of which is the converted health insurance supplement.
Q. I’m a teacher in a district that already pays well above the state minimum – will I receive the $2,000 increase?
A. Yes, in addition to the increase in the state minimum salary schedule, districts are required to pass on the increase to all eligible personnel. The raise is in addition to any step increase to which you would be entitled if your district had a local salary schedule in effect for the 2005-2006 school year.
Q. What’s different about the $500 health insurance supplement?
A. Most employees will not see much of a difference in how the $500 is handled. For teachers, counselors, librarians and nurses, the $500 was folded into the pay raise. Other employees who are eligible for the supplement will continue to receive it as a wage increase. The criteria determining who is eligible for the supplement did not change, and part-time personnel will continue to receive $250.
As before, employees can take the money as salary subject to taxation, or shelter the money from taxes via a premium conversion or local cafeteria plan (if either is offered locally – check with your district’s payroll department).
Q. Is my district receiving new money from the state?
A. Districts are receiving money to fund the teacher pay raise through increases in the funding formula. Generally, access to additional revenue will be available to districts that raise local tax rates up to 4 cents above the rate to which HB 1 reduces them. Those 4 cents will be matched at a fairly high rate for property-poor districts, and will not be subject to recapture for property-wealthy districts. Districts are also receiving $275 per high school student to use for dropout reduction and college readiness programs.
Q. When does the new school start date go into effect?
A. The 2006-07 school calendar will not be affected by HB 1. The new requirement begins with the 2007-08 school year, at which time the first instructional day must be the fourth Monday in August. No waivers will be allowed; there is an exception for year-round schools.
Q. What are the new prekindergarten eligibility requirements for children of military families?
A. HB 1 expanded eligibility for prekindergarten to include children of active duty members of the armed forces (including state military and reserves), including members killed or injured while on active duty. The child will remain eligible even if the parent leaves the military or active duty while the child is still in prekindergarten.
Q. Will I be eligible for incentive pay next year?
A. HB 1 includes two incentive pay programs, only one of which will go into effect for the 2006-07 school year. That $100 million program will be limited to high-performing or improving schools ranked in the top half of schools in their percentage of economically disadvantaged students. This is an expansion of the Governor’s $10 million program that was similarly-structured but open only to the top third of high economically disadvantaged campuses. TEA has not yet released a list of the schools that will be eligible for the $100 million program.
In addition, each school applying for incentive pay funding will develop its own model for rewarding employees, so whether an individual employee in a participating school district will receive additional pay will be dependent upon that district’s program.
The second incentive pay program will be open to all campuses, and is scheduled for implementation in the 2007-08 school year. TCTA will be working in the 2007 regular legislative session to address concerns about this program prior to its implementation.
