HISD walks back on promise of retention incentives to non-NES school teachers

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The Houston Independent School District is walking back on what some considered a promise of monetary incentives for teachers at the non-New Education System schools.

Our ABC13 partners at the Houston Chronicle reported that an email was sent to teachers on Thursday, saying thank you for completing the school year on a strong note.

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However, at the end of the email, the district said that due to budget restraints, the $1,000 to $2,000 incentives that were a part of the Draft Compensation Plan created earlier this year are not happening anymore.

The district was counting on providing teachers at non-NES schools with extra funds if they continued teaching the following school year.

This new development came nearly two months after the district published its compensation plan that gave precise details on educators' salaries and initial stipends, calling it "really generous salary enhancements."

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Andrew Dewey, with the Houston Federation of Teachers, spoke with ABC13 and said this update is par for the course from HISD.

"It's the non-NES teachers that we understand who won't be receiving their stipend well, alright. And our reaction to it? Well, we are appalled, but it's really business as usual under Mike Miles and his entire administration. He has made offers in the past, mostly regarding money, that have not come true," Dewey said.

Eyewitness News questioned the district on why the offers were rescinded. The district said they hoped to provide retention incentives for all returning teachers.

"(We) worked to worked to untangle the financial challenges created by the loss of federal Covid funding...they found it is simply not possible to offer the retention incentives without directly impacting students and classrooms."

The district continued saying that the drafted plan was just, in fact, a draft. According to officials, the plan is subject to change until the board passes the budget in June.

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