Dallas seeks Austin's teaching talent

Driving the news: Dallas ISD has at least two billboards in the Austin area, including one by 29th and Guadalupe, advertising job openings and announcing the starting salary for teachers.

• Salaries in Dallas start at $62,000, per the billboards.
• The starting salary for Austin teachers ranges from $55,844 to $68,353, based on years of experience, per the Austin ISD compensation manual. A new teaching hire at Austin ISD must have 23 years of experience to earn a starting salary of $62,000.

Zoom in: The Austin advertising is part of a larger years-long Dallas ISD recruiting effort, involving marketing and advertising in a handful of other states and Puerto Rico, as well as Panama, Colombia, Spain and Mexico, Jason Stanford, a special assistant to Dallas ISD superintendent Stephanie Elizalde, tells Axios.

• The Dallas district spends $200,000 annually on the campaign, which includes billboards and advertising in local and regional newspapers and on social media.

The intrigue: Elizalde and Stanford previously worked for the Austin district.

• In 2022, Elizalde, who had worked earlier in her career in Dallas, told the American-Statesman the move back to that city was "a perfect professional promotion."

What they're saying: "In Austin, we're hoping to find some top performing teachers who want to come for better money," Stanford says. "In Dallas we've got a good environment and everyone's working from the same playbook. People come for the money and stay for the culture."

• The starting salary for teachers at Dallas ISD tops out for new teachers at $71,283, depending on capabilities such as special education certification and dual language capabilities, per Stanford.

The other side: "We understand why other districts would want to recruit Austin ISD teachers, as they are the best in the business," JJ Maldonado, spokesperson for AISD, tells Axios.

• "We focus on our recruitment and retention efforts by adhering to our values as a district, providing a positive and supportive employee experience and treating everyone not only as professionals, but also as members of the AISD family."

By the numbers: Last year, the Austin school board increased teacher, librarian and counselor salaries by 7%.

• Austin ISD officials and Education Austin, the union for AISD employees, have now hammered out a draft employee compensation plan that includes market adjustments and a 25-cent-per-hour increase for some employees.
• But that would go into effect only following voter approval in a special tax rate election this November that the school board plans to call for.

The big picture: Officials at school districts across the state lay blame at the feet of Texas lawmakers for leaving schools cash-strapped.

• The state Legislature last increased per-student funding in 2019, leaving school districts eyeing deep budget cuts to make ends meet five years later. Austin's budget deficit could be as high as $78 million; Dallas' $186 million.
• ​​Texas ranks in the bottom 10 states in the country for education spending by several measures, including a January report by the Albert Shanker Institute, the University of Miami and Rutgers University.

What's next: Austin public schools' first day of classes is Aug. 20.