2011-12 Salary Survey: We need district data more than ever

Salary survey season has officially kicked off in HR Services. Last week we sent e-mail invitations for our annual TASA/TASB Superintendent Salary Survey  to all superintendents and HR Services program contacts. District Personnel and Extra-Duty Stipend surveys will follow in coming months (see the complete survey schedule below).

For more than 25 years, Texas school districts have participated in our annual salary survey. With the Legislature’s decision to slash education funding, it is more important than ever for all districts to take part this year. Our salary survey reports are read by school leaders, policymakers, and elected officials.

Why should your district participate? Here’s what our survey will do:

• Measure the impact of funding, including reductions of pay, staffing, and work schedules
• Report on the number of districts that froze pay
• Identify areas where pay may have increased
• Ensure your data is current on “hot” jobs (i.e., speech pathologist)

And, of course, your participation will result in better data accuracy for everyone who uses the survey in the future.

Streamlined survey for small districts

The granddaddy of them all, the District Personnel Survey (which includes teachers), will be sent to our program contacts on Sept. 8. Most notably this year, we’re adding a survey tailored to small districts. Our goal is to make it easier for school districts with less than 1,000 students to participate.

We analyzed response data and significantly streamlined the survey for this group, reducing the number of job titles surveyed from 56 to 38. We’ll also offer two options to complete the questionnaire: a paper copy (pdf) or Excel SmartScreen (similar to last year, but shorter). Small districts that participate will be rewarded with an exclusive summary report of results from districts with fewer than 1,000 students.

Salary survey reports are published on line (in myTASB) for all members of HR Services. In addition, our members who are also DataCentral subscribers  get access to all of the survey data, which can be downloaded to Excel or printed as a custom PDF report. Nonmember survey participants will receive the survey highlights following the conclusion of the survey and may also purchase the entire report at member rates.