Success Story: Salary Increases, Supervision Stipends, and Added SLP Positions in Texas

The team created a shared Google document and began to gather data in that centralized document while meeting in the evenings. We developed a presentation, updated a list of roles and responsibilities, wrote a letter using information from ASHA, and used ASHA articles to further our research.

We provided a presentation to our superintendent and to our human resources (HR) director and, later, wrote letters to our school board. The education piece was critical for the superintendent and the school board. They found it eye-opening to learn more about our roles and differentiated responsibilities, but this did not result in change with HR: They made only a small adjustment in salary, but unfortunately that adjusted salary was still $7,000 below market for our area for SLPs with 10+ years of experience. 

As a result, 8 out of 16 SLPs (me included) left that district in the 2022–2023 school year due to the disparity in salary. Another 5 left this school year (2023–2024). 

Since leaving, we've been hearing that our advocacy has made a difference. The district is considering providing clinical fellowship supervision stipends and other stipends.

I accepted a job with a neighboring district that was salary competitive but had higher caseloads. When I began in the new district, I found out that the SLP team had already started advocacy conversations with HR. In September 2023, I attended a meeting with the entire speech-language pathology team, the superintendent, the director of HR, special education directors, and the director of finance. It was a great opportunity to have an open dialogue and engage in advocacy.

What was the outcome of your efforts?

The meeting was very productive, and the school district leadership agreed to the following changes and additions:

• The school district made individual salary adjustments to ensure the distinction between (a)general educators and (b)SLPs who have specialized and advanced education and training.

• The school district added annual stipends of $1,000 for SLPs who supervise speech-language pathology assistants (SLPAs).

• The school district added six new SLP positions to make our caseloads and workloads more manageable.

What advice would you give to others?

We found it challenging to do intensive research, compile data to support our requests, and engage in planning and presenting our case—only to have to accept a flat "no" from the previous district. 

However, the positive end result is that several of us went to new districts only after having honed an important new skill—that is, solid experience in self-advocacy! Because of our prior experiences, we successfully got higher salaries, stipends, and salary adjustments for this fall (i.e., fall 2024).

I do believe that even though our advocacy didn't achieve our immediate desired results in one district, it did open the door for future SLPs to engage in similar advocacy efforts—and I believe that it will eventually pay off for them in the coming years.

My advice is this: Keep trying—and keep being a voice!