For the duration of summer school, the Brownsville Independent School District has issued a $3 boost to all teachers.
Educators in Brownsville said that even if the salary raise is just for the summer, it’s still a little victory.
The original plan was to pay summer school teachers $12 an hour, but that has been increased to $15.
Brownsville Educators Stand Together, a teachers’ union in Brownsville, organized a campaign to draw board members’ attention to the issue of raising teacher salaries.
“We don’t want our employees to be in poverty,” said Best AFT teacher Patrick Hammes. “A lot of BISD employees are also parents of BISD students and we know that poverty is one of the greatest obstacles to education.”
Teachers and other qualified workers in the district should be paid a living wage, according to Hammes.
Teachers in the Brownville ISD are hoping for a $4,000 pay increase.
More board meetings will be attended by the union’s representatives, who will discuss teacher salaries and raises with their peers.