Houston-area districts, schools where teachers are paid most

HOUSTON – They’re with your kids each day, shaping their mind and their futures.

Suzanne Yankowitz has two children in Katy ISD, a 4th grader and a 1st grader.

“We are very lucky at our school that our teachers really do listen to us…we are very blessed,” she said.

When asked if those teachers are compensated fairly for their work, Yankowitz pulled no punches.

“There is nothing you can say to me that says they get paid enough. I think they should get paid more than any other job,” she said.

Many teachers spend years getting the necessary degrees and certifications and often work in challenging environments. And for many educators, salary is a sticking point.

CHECK OUT OUR EXCLUSIVE DATABASE OF TEACHER SALARIES AT THE END OF THIS STORY

In Katy ISD, the top-paying school is Seven Lakes High School, with an average salary of $60,463. The school also earned the highest accountability ranking from the state with seven stars.

In Conroe ISD, Woodlands High School is the top-paying school in the district, with teachers earning an average of $61,418 per year. That school earned six out of seven stars from the state.

“No, my salary is not enough. No, my salary is not fair," said Asma Akhter, who has taught physics and chemistry at Worthing High School for nine years and smiled as she spoke of her students.

Worthing High School was the top-paying traditional campus in Houston Independent School District with an average of $58,073. Worthing’s accountability rating is zero stars, combined with an “improvement required” classification from the Texas Education Agency.

Akhter often devotes weekends to helping students and said the effort is well worth it.

Zeph Capo is the president of the Houston Federation of Teachers.

“Worthing High School is a very tough school, so I think they deserve every penny they’re getting and more so," Capo said.

Houston ISD teachers like Akhter may be getting a raise. Capo is currently lobbying the school board for a 5 percent raise.

The board votes next month.

“Frankly the job that teaching has become today, they are most certainly not paid enough," said Capo.

According to Capo, HISD teachers are leaving for better-paying suburban districts.

“They basically recruit out of HISD. Why wouldn’t a teacher do that? If you’re going to make several more, then of course those additional dollars are going to move you away,” he said.

Some of those suburban districts include Cy-Fair ISD. Teachers at Cypress Park High School earn an average salary of $62,948, the top-paying school in the district, and with no state ranking because it’s a new school.

In Spring ISD, Westfield High School is highest paid at $61,807 with one star. In Alief ISD, the highest paying school is Kerr High School, with seven stars and where teachers earn an average of $66,093.

The school district with the highest average salary in our analysis was Clear Creek ISD. Its top-paying school was Clear Falls High School, paying an average teacher salary of $67,600 and earning one star.

Channel 2 is revealing an interactive database of teacher salaries in 11 school districts. Only on Click2Houston will you find the average teacher salaries for hundreds of non-charter schools in Greater Houston, in addition to the average years of teacher experience for each school.

We’ve posted average teacher salaries for all non-charter schools in the following school districts:

  • HOUSTON ISD
  • CYPRESS-FAIRBANKS ISD
  • KATY ISD
  • FORT BEND ISD
  • CONROE ISD
  • ALDINE ISD
  • ALIEF ISD
  • CLEAR CREEK ISD
  • SPRING BRANCH ISD
  • SPRING ISD
  • LA PORTE ISD

Houston ISD released a statement to Channel 2 saying:

"HISD compensation is based on each teacher’s years of experience. In the case of Worthing High School, nearly 55 percent of the school’s teachers have been teaching for six or more years."

Check out our exclusive database of teacher salaries: