Educator Support

Teachers deserve more workday support. I want to expand school support staffing and increase pay for new teachers. Increasing new teacher pay will help the next generation of ISD 622 educators build lives within ISD 622 while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Encouraging teachers to live in our district will further strengthen the connection between our schools and the community. I want to make sure that ISD 622 has a long-term strategy for building our next generation of excellent teachers, which means establishing new teacher support systems and committing to new teachers in collaborative ways.

Policy Proposals

Policy: K-6 grades will be provided a minimum of one para-educator to support each grade level. Para-educators will work with assigned grade-level teachers to determine how the team will benefit from having additional support, such as supervising a student taking a break from the classroom environment, tending to the playground during an exercise break, escorting students to/from specialized classes, etc.

Policy: We need to measure what matters! We need data to support our teachers in and out of school hours. All teachers will use a clock-in/clock-out system to collect data on work hour demands; in addition to work hours, teachers will log time spent doing professional development, classroom maintenance, grading activities, and extracurriculars.

Policy: Student teachers will work with identified and stipend-earning senior teachers for an entire school year. The district will work with colleges and universities to secure student teachers interested in working in the ISD 622 district. First-year teachers will maintain mentorship relationships with identified and stipend-earning senior teachers. Salaries for new teachers will reflect professional salary expectations for civic employees.

Policy: Teachers who choose to live within the ISD 622 community will earn a "Teachers Are Great Neighbors" bonus.