Susan Lewallen, a pre-kindergarden teacher for Lubbock ISD loves her job, but said outside the classroom, teacher salaries can make life difficult. However, a new bill proposed in the state legislative session could help.

“There are a lot of teachers who struggle month to month just trying to make ends meet,” said Lewallen. “The salary is not as competitive as it could be.”

Senate Bill 3, the addition of funding to school districts for classroom teacher salaries, would increase classroom teacher salaries by $5,000, in addition to merit based salary increases. 

“We know for our teachers, their nobility has taken a little bit of a hit, at least financially, and we would love to see some help in that area,” said Jeff Baum, the chief financial officer for Lubbock ISD.

The lower the number the bill, the higher the priority it is for state legislatures. Sitting at number three, this makes teacher salaries a high priority this session. 

Currently, Lubbock ISD teacher salaries start at $43,000 per year. According to Baum, ths is not competitive regionally and in larger cities. This idea concerned Lewallen, who believes more competitve jobs are deterring strong candidates away from Lubbock. 

“I would like to see a teacher salary just be competitive overall with other professions. When kids are in college, they are going to weigh the different professions and the salaries… and they are going to see, maybe teaching is not as competitve as I want it to be,” she said. “We just lose young adults becase of that.”

While Baum believed this bill is a great start to recognize teachers’ hard work, he raised some concerns he hopes will be addressed as state legislatures continue to review it. 

“Behind every teacher, there is an additional support team, be it a counselor or diagnostician, an instructional coach or instructional aid in the classroom,” said Baum. “Those categories of employees were not included in the bill.”

However, he said Lubbock ISD will make efforts to find those available funds in their budget.

The legislature has not completed reviewing this bill, but Baum and Lewallen hope it has a future in the books, for the sake of teachers and the kids they are trying to inspire. 

“Being a classroom teacher is the single most difficult role in the education process. They need constant support. The challenges are huge. The children that come to our schools are in need of more help than they have every been before and it absolutely takes all of us on board,” said Baum. 

“I will watch their brains working and I will look in their eyes and you can see the connections being made and it is amazing. That is what makes it worth while about being a teacher,” said Lewallen. 

If passed, the act would take effect in September, and would apply to the 2019-2020 school year.