We already covered a lot of the generous increases in salary and benefits enjoyed by City workers in those years when inflation was nearly non-existent.
Since we are going to see the same argument from the school system soon, let’s go over some of the raises THEY were given before inflation got out of control.
Now, before I shit all over the LISD, I DO realize that if you absolutely cannot fill a teaching position, you CLEARLY have to dangle a higher salary. That is simple economics. However, that money doesn’t have to come from the taxpayer – it can come from the firing of useless slugs like Kathy Staruska who suck down over $80,000 in tax dollars but educate nobody. The school is there to EDUCATE your kid. Not to provide ‘free’ therapy sessions to your kid that you messed up with bad parenting.
Without further ado….
4/6/18 – The Lampasas Independent School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved a general pay increase for all the district’s teachers, administrators and auxiliary staff. Each teacher will receive a $1,500 increase, a raise of about 3 percent will go to administrators,and an increase of about 5 percent will be given to aides, clerical and auxiliary staff. The pay raise will add about$800,000 to the budget, which will be covered by attrition. CPI in 2018 was 2.4% – raises were DOUBLE the inflation rate.
7/5/19 – The Lampasas Independent School District Board of Trustees approved teacherraises totaling $1.5 million for the coming school year. CPI in 2019 was only 1.8%
3/3/20 – “This evening, our school board approved a compensation plan for next yearthat includes a 7% general pay increaseof the midpoint for Teachers, Clerical/Aides, and Auxiliary. Teacher salaries will reflect a minimum starting amount of $47,000. A general pay increase of 5%of the midpoint for administrators was approved as well. CPI in 2020 was 1.2% – raises were therefore 5.8 times higher than inflation.
[So over those three years, inflation was roughly 5.5% while raises totaled about 15% – or almost TRIPLE inflation]
Also don’t forget, school was cancelled for the rest of the year (shortly after that big raise) due to Covid…giving everyone two months off, fully paid.
Once again, job security is the phrase you are looking for.
Everyone was ALSO given TEN DAYS of “Covid-related time off” for the NEXT school year! That’s TWO WEEKS paid vacation in addition to regular sick days, Thanksgiving holiday, Christmas holiday, spring break, etc.
Nice perk:
1/14/21 – The Lampasas Independent School District Board of Trustees voted Monday night to extend Superintendent Dr. Chane Rascoe’s contract, which now is set to expire in June 2024.Trustees also granted Rascoe a 7% raise, bringing his salary to $169,864 as of July 1. CPI for 2021 was 4.7% – Rascoe’s raise was 1.5 times the rate of inflation. Rascoe now makes more than the governor of Texas.
9/3/21 (Dispatch) – On Monday, the Lampasas Independent School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved a $35.9 million Fiscal Year 2022 general fund budget that includes a 2% salary raise for all staff [that includes all the useless Staruska Slugs infesting the LISD]. The district’s new budget will take effect Oct. 1. Of the total, salaries amount to $27.2 million (76% of budget).
**UPDATE 4/7/23**
4/7/23 (Dispatch) – The plan recommended by Superintendent Dr. Chane Rascoe includes a general pay increase of 4% from the midpoint salary for administrators and teachers, and an increase of 10% from the midpoint range for aides and clerical staff. Auxiliary staff earned the largest pay rise, a general increase of 13.5% from the midpoint salary.
The increase will raise the average teacher salary to $51,000 in LISD. According to the Texas Association of School Board’s statewide 2022-23 District Personnel Survey, the overall median salary for a new Texas teacher is $46,550.
But wait! There’s more!!
Don’t forget that teachers ALSO get the summers off. Why, just look at our own teacher/City council member Cathy “Porkchop” Kuehne! She makes about $67,000 per year (plus bennies) AND has her summers free to work another job! With wages and labor demand what they are now, a determined teacher could easily make another $10,000 to $12,000 over the summer – bringing that total up to nearly $80,000!! Cry me a river!