If your child’s school seems to have a harder time keeping their best teachers these days, there may be good reason why. School districts around the metro area are paying teachers significantly different amounts. First-year teachers in one district are making more than ten-year teachers in another. Education reporter Wayne Carter has the story.
There's never a dull moment at Mansfield ISD's Carol Holt Elementary.
First-year teacher Belle Lopez is pulling out the stops to help her kindergarteners master the basics. While the students appear to have hit the jackpot with her as a teacher, her winding up at the Mansfield ISD was no accident.
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WATCH HERE"Teachers, you know, we're not the highest paid in all of the world, and that goes into consideration when you're looking for a job. So you're looking for where your needs gonna be, how are you gonna pour into your community? But also, how are you gonna support yourself and your family?" questioned Lopez.
A new survey of the top-paying school districts in DFW puts Mansfield ISD near the top, along with the districts in Arlington, Irving, and HEB.
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SIGN UP "Latest reports show close to 30% of all new hires in the school district are people who've moved from another," said Steven Poole, of the United Educators Association.
The group has been putting these numbers together for teachers for decades. This year, more than before, teachers are packing up and moving on.
"Teachers really want to take a look at what they're making in their current district, and in a way whether they want to change districts or not," said Poole.
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We looked at districts in the four-county metro area, and a first-year teacher like Belle in Mansfield is making $64,700 a year; that's more than teachers who have served 10 years in Crowley, Northwest, Carroll, Keller, and Grapevine- Colleyville.
"When there's a 20-year teacher that's just making about $10,000 or $5,000 more than a new hire, that causes a lot of heartburn and causes a lot of those 20-year teachers to question whether they're going to continue or not," he said.
"We have the lowest turnover rate in the North Texas area for a district of our size," said Kimberly Cantu, the superintendent of the Mansfield ISD.
Cantu credited her school board for making teacher pay a priority while other districts are slashing tax rates for political purposes.
"The most important thing that the critical piece of a child's learning is the teacher in the classroom, right? And so we have just committed ourselves for many years to make sure that we are doing the best that we can to take care of the teachers in the classroom," said Cantu.
Like other district leaders, Cantu is pushing for more funding to continue increasing teacher pay. Duncanville, Lake Worth, Keller, Grapevine-Colleyville, and Weatherford are some of the lowest-paying districts in the four-county metro area.
Duncanville said, "We are currently reviewing teacher pay across various districts to make recommendations for the 2025-2026 School Year."
Keller added, "Teacher pay is always a priority, and they hope the legislature will pay more to increase salary."
And Grapevine-Colleyville ISD said, "Teacher pay is a top priority. We remain optimistic about state funding ahead of the 89th legislative session and will continue to advocate for financial support at every level."
In the meantime those rock star teachers have a lot of options out there, Belle admitting she left a district she loved over money.
"I did a full year of student teaching, so I really got to experience that district and things that they offered. And so my heart, you know, it did look into that district, but when I looked into pay, it was substantially less than what Mansfield had to offer."
Some superintendents have called for districts to join together and set the same pay rates so they're not dealing with trying to out do each other year after year, so far, it hasn't taken shape.
