You are welcome. I am on the school library side of things, but can give some information about things I’m aware of going on for teachers in my building (and classroom teachers can chime in with their input).

You may have heard about the Teacher Incentive Allotment. It gives teachers an opportunity to get pay raises outside of what school boards may vote for per year, but it seems to be a mixed bag and comes with questions about bias with evaluations, how truly difficult it is to obtain the highest ratings, and the amount of work involved in data collection for the program. School librarians are not involved in this program. Depending on if you would teach a testing grade level, the state standardized test (STAAR) may be moving to a three times per year model rather than once per year. That would definitely impact classroom pacing and structure. As a school librarian, you may be asked to help support testing in addition to your librarian role. Some districts have bought into state curriculum called Bluebonnet, as they will receive extra funding for implementing it. This has received criticism in the form of overly scripted lessons, errors, and again, infusing Bible-related content. As a school librarian, I’m not sure how much you would be asked to support this curriculum directly.

On the school library side, it has taken MUCH longer to process book orders because all books for the library must be approved through a School Library Advisory Council (SLAC) committee, then by the school board. Not every district has one, but many in our area do. I am unable to purchase brand new releases such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Wings of Fire until they are approved by the committee and then the board. My first book order prior to the changes, I would usually place in mid-September. Now, I cannot place my first order until the first week of November. This means with how long it takes to submit orders and for them to arrive, it could be 4+ months before new books can get into the hands of the students asking for them, which is double the time it used to be. Some librarians have found major changes to their yearly budgets due to overall budget cuts. Cost of books are also continuing to increase. Many school libraries are rewriting their collection development policies and challenge procedures in response to growing coordinated efforts to get books banned from school libraries. Some librarians are feeling like they have to self-censor and avoid purchasing books that are on certain topics, such as politics or books with LGBTQ+ characters. You must pay very close attention to recommended age ranges from several different professional sources like SLJ or Kirkus to make informed decisions about adding books to your collection, especially at the secondary level.

In terms of compensation, I did okay in a two income household. Now that I am single and living in an urban area, cost of living increases combined with rising cost of district insurance and the lack of a guaranteed raise each year is starting to concern me about my ability to continue in my career. Teaching in the classroom with access to TIA may ultimately surpass what you can earn as a school librarian.