Our teachers deserve our help.

The presidential election isn’t the only important thing to consider when you go to vote this fall. Austin ISD Proposition 1 – unanimously approved by the AISD Board of Trustees – will allow AISD to attract and retain highly qualified teachers and improve the quality of education in our schools.

Austin ISD is rated the second best urban school district on the Nation's Education Report Card, due largely to the work of our very dedicated teachers — many who put aside their lunch and sacrifice their breaks to work with our children. They spend their summers creating new curriculum; they often purchase classroom supplies out of their own pocket to enhance classroom learning.

What Prop. 1 will do.

Austin ISD Prop. 1 will increase the school district’s maintenance-and-operations tax rate by 3.9 cents per $100,000 of property value. It would primarily be used to increase teacher and staff salaries by a modest three percent. An exemption is available for homeowners 65 and older.

The teacher pay raise will significantly close the pay gap between Austin ISD and the surrounding suburban school districts such as Round Rock and Leander ISD. This will help us keep the best and the brightest educators right here in our own community. If Prop. 1 does not pass, Austin ISD teachers and educators will not receive a pay raise and we may lose some of our best teachers.

Why we need Prop. 1.

When the Texas Legislature changed school finance laws in 2006, school district revenue was locked in at the same per student dollar amount as the 2005-2006 school year, there was no inflation adjustment and no cost-of-living adjustment—just a hard freeze. If Austin ISD needs to spend more money on gas for school buses or air conditioning for classrooms or wants to provide a modest pay raise for our teachers we have to hold a tax rate election. At the end of 2007, 140 districts had already held local elections to meet rising costs. It is now our turn.

Every child deserves a great teacher. Excellent teachers are critical to our children graduating with the skills necessary to succeed in college, their careers, and life. This is a great opportunity for our community to tell teachers that we value their work.

Parents, teachers, business leaders, and labor groups have all endorsed Prop 1 so that our children can have the quality teachers they deserve to thrive and succeed.

Now it is up to you.