On Tuesday Nov. 7, voters will be deciding on the passage of Proposition A (Prop A). Prop A, if voted in, would implement a 6% pay raise for teachers and librarians and a 5% pay raise for all other faculty. Prop A has received a fair amount of praise from Round Rock Independent School District (RRISD)But what RRISD often forgets to mention is that without Prop A, teachers, librarians, and other faculty members are already getting a 3% pay raise, so Prop A would only add on to an existing pay raise.
RRISD’s promotion for Prop A loves to advertise a 14.36 cent tax break for every $100 of taxable home value. But without Prop A, homeowners would get an extra 3 cent tax break for every $100. Prop A is not a bad option, but it may not be our best. Why withhold three golden pennies from homeowners, when it would be more effective to restructure RRISD’s salary system as a whole?
According to GovSalaries.com, the superintendent of Round Rock ISD, Dr. Hafedh Azaiez, has a salary of $360,200. This is 622% higher than the average RRISD teacher’s salary of $49,870. Why should taxpayers have to settle with higher taxes when the highest paid RRISD employees are making the annual salary of a teacher in two or three months?
The best option for teachers, librarians, faculty, and homeowners is to not only implement the 3% raise without Prop A, but to also push for salary reform that takes a relatively small chunk of wages from the higher-ups and redistributes it to teachers and other faculty. It is painfully obvious that the superintendent and board members know this and choose to support Prop A to save themselves and their salaries.
Not only did RRISD publish a staunchly pro-Prop A site that only talks about positives, but they also put banner ads on every part of their website that urges voters to vote yes on it. RRISD voters should not only reject Prop A, but RRISD should also not be so involved in its passage in the form of promotion and banner ads. RRISD should focus more on using its existing assets and servicing its students rather than pushing for legislation that benefits higher-ups more than the teachers that are giving students an education.
