Long process over, we’re ready for a budget vote

Thursday evening will see the culmination of perhaps our most important annual ritual, as the Board of Education votes on approving next year’s HISD budget. This follows months of careful analysis and planning from our financial office and weeks of review and discussions with the Board of Education.

Since we began our budget process, we’ve been very fortunate that the projections of our property tax base have improved, as the boom in home and commercial property values continues.

We’re proud of what we’ve been able to do through that good fortune and the skills of our very capable Chief Financial Officer Ken Huewitt and his team.

Under our final proposal, every teacher will receive a raise of at least $1,100. And depending on length of service, some teachers will receive as much as $3,300.

Starting teachers will ease closer to that magic $50,000 a year salary level – with $49,100 for first-year teachers. That makes us competitive with neighboring districts, which have recently upped their starting pay. More importantly, this is just the beginning of a longer-term plan to make our overall teacher pay scale more sensible.

We will also be presenting this evening an additional $29 per pupil pushed out to all of our schools this upcoming school year. This is in addition to $26 per-pupil allocation already approved by the Board in May. Combined, all HISD schools will receive an additional $55 per pupil next year – another solid step toward returning our schools to the PUA levels before the state cuts in 2011.

There has never been and will never be a budget in any public institution where everyone is happy with the results. Through the grace of a robust economy, the talents of our staff, and the insights of our Board and stakeholders, we think we’ve come as close to a fair and responsible budget as humanly possible.