An Open Letter to Dan Ellis & the Texas Legislature
Dan:  Here are some of the more obvious conerns.  As a chaplain in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, like many, I love my job.  I work with some of the finest persons at the Lewis Unit and throughout Texas.  Our great state has done so much for so many.  I have seen officers working at the local Wal-Mart and McDonald's during Christmas time to help make ends meet.  Not till I looked at the differences between other professions did I see the glaring inequities.  In the following, you will see what is hard to understand.  To further highlight the differences, I've indicated five points of concern.  I know many care, but how long will this continue?
Dan, I love my job and owe so much to Texas for the privilege of service.  Given the following, and by any consideration of professional equity and knowledge of the contribution that the chaplaincy department gives through its chaplains and the innumerable volunteers facilitated, how can the few number of chaplains be paid any less than TDCJ's own engineers or the head chaplain any less than a Windham principal?  Below are                        5 professional inequities and so much more could be pointed out.  Please help us chaplains.
     1.  A programmer or engineer in training can walk out of college at 22 years old, start with TDCJ making MORE than a chaplain with a Master's degree, while no one anywhere would consider a "prison" chaplain fit at 22 yrs. old.  Most Chaplains exceed the professional qualifications of both the Engineer V and the Programmer V positions, not to mention the UTMB and Windham comparisons.
     2.  How can a pharmacist, physician asst., principal, programmer or teacher make more than our wardens?
     3.  How can a "contract" Psychiatrist III make more than our Executive Director?
     4.  The Wardens, Officers  AND  Chaplains were present in prison long before the "TDCJ" engineers, programmers, teachers and before psychiatry even existed, yet how is that the last have so surpassed, even suppressed the salary of the first?
     5.  Not the least by any means--our Correctional Officers are no less citizens and employees than any other state law enforcement officer and no less professional, except that they have to deal with Uglier and Nastier elements of law enforcement DAILY, Hourly while being paid far less and expected to be "career" employees.
Prepared by M.G. Maness, Chaplain, Lewis Unit, Woodville
mgmaness@earthlink.net
Chaplain Salary/Experience  Vis-à-vis  Other Professions in TDCJ
  Group Monthly   Group
Profession Start Start   M I N I M U M  Qualifications Scale
Chaplain I B05 2161 Masters, 2 yrs exp;  or Bachelors with 4 yrs. exp.;  or HS/GED with 8 yrs. exp.;  ecclesiastical endorsement & ordination. B05:  2161-2749
Chaplain II B08 2589 Masters, 2 yrs exp;  or Bachelors with 4 yrs. exp.;  or HS/GED with 8 yrs. exp.;  2 units (800 hrs) certified CPE, ecclesiastical endorsement & ordination. B08:  2589-3309
Chaplain II, Regional B09 2749 Masters, 2 yrs exp;  or Bachelors with 5 yrs. exp.;  2 units (800 hrs) certified CPE, ecclesiastical endorsement & ordination. B09:  2749-3518
Chaplain III, Administrator B10 2925 Masters, 6 yrs exp., 2 units (800 hrs) certified CPE, ecclesiastical endorsement & ordination. B10:  2925-3744
        NOTE:  Engineers Start at Mid-Range with Minimum of Experience, Increasing FROM Mid-Range Based upon Experience  
Engineer I B09 3109 Bachelors, passed Engineer in Training exam B09:  2725-3744
Engineer II B10 3418 Bachelors, passed Engineer in Training exam, 2 yrs exp., Masters Dg. can substitute for 2 yrs exp. B10:  2925-3744
Engineer III B11 3644 Bachelors, passed Engineer in Training exam,  4 yrs exp., licensed prof. engineer, current certification plant engineer preferred. B11:  3111-4130
Engineer IV B12 3885 Bachelors, passed Eng. in Training exam, 6 yrs exp., Masters Dg. can substitute for 2 yrs exp., licensed prof. engineer, current certification plant engineer preferred. B12:  3309-4397
Engineer V B13 4153 Bachelors, passed Eng. in Training exam, 8 yrs exp., Masters Dg. can substitute for 2 yrs exp., licensed prof. engineer, current certification plant engineer preferred. B13:  3518-4680
         
Programmer II, Systems B08 2589 Bachelors with 18 hrs computer sci.;  or HS/GED 1 yr. exp. B08:  2589-3309
Programmer III, Systems B10 2925 Bachelors with 18 hrs computer sci.;  or HS/GED 2 yrs exp. B10:  2925-3744
Programmer IV, Systems B12 3309 Bachelors with 18 hrs computer sci.;  or HS/GED 3 yrs exp. B12:  3309-4397
Programmer V, Systems B14 3744 Bachelors with computer sci. & 4 years exp.;  or HS/GED 5 yrs exp. B14:  3644-
         
Warden I B14 3744 Bachelors, 8 yrs. exp., each 30 hrs. above Bachelors may substitute for 1 year of experience B14:  3644-
Asst. Warden B13 3418 Bachelors, 6 yrs. exp., each 30 hrs. above Bachelors may substitute for 1 year of experience, with 2 years supervision of employees B13:  3518-4680
         
Librarian II, Unit Law Librarian B07 2436 HS or GED, 2 yrs. exp., 30 hrs college may substitute 1 yr. of exp. on yr. for yr. basis;  exp. in legal research preferred. B07:  2436-3111
Sergeant, Security Threat B05 2161 HS or GED, 2 yrs. Correctional/Law Enforcement Officer B05:  2161-2749
Food Service Manager II A13 2161 HS or GED, 3 yrs. exp. in food preparation or 1.5 yrs correctional food service exp. A13 & B05:  2161-2749
Recreation Program Specialist IV  --  Coach A14 2295 Bachelors with study in physical education or in any field with 2 years exp. A14 & B6:  2295-2925
Maintenance Supervisor IV, Plumber & Water Technician A15 2436 HS or GED, 5 yrs. exp., with or able to get Level II distribution & collection certification within 1 year of employment;  plumbing license preferred. A15 & B7:  2436-3111
Administrative Technician IV, Work Order Coordinator A15 2436 Bachelors, with study in business preferred, 1 year experience;  each year exp. above 1 may substitute for 30 college hours. A15 & B07:  2436-3111
Program Administrator II, Rehabilitation Tier Specialist B10 2925 Bachelors with study in public administration, criminal justice or related field;  5 yrs. exp., each year exp. above 5 may be substituted for 30 hours college. B10:  2925-3744
Program Administrator IV, Purchasing & Leases B12 3309 Bachelors in business, finance or related preferred, 8 yrs exp., each year in excess of 8 may substitute for 30 hours college on year for year basis B12:  3309-4397
-- WINDHAM SALARY LEVELS --
Windham Principal I                   (5 or less employees)   4635 Masters with educational administration, State Board Educator Certification Mid-Management, Five-Year Mid-Management Certificate (or eligible), 3 years as a classroom teacher (based on annual start 55635).  
Windham Principal II   4744 Same as Principle I but with 10-19 employees (based on annual start 56929).  
Windham Principal III   4886 Same as Principle I but with 20-29 employees (based on annual start 58637).  
Windham Principal IV   5033 Same as Principle I but with 30 or more employees (based on annual start 60396).  
Windham Counselor   3372 Masters & State Board for Educator Certificate Professional School Counselor or eligible (based on annual start 40464).  
Windham Teacher Salaries Increase EVERY Year;  After the fourth year, Increase by 1200+ EACH year through the 10th year, with a slow slide down to the 20th year.
Windham Teacher (0 exp.)   2423 Bachelors & certification for area of assignment (based on annual start 29076).  
Windham Teacher (2 yrs. exp.)   2538 Bachelors & certification for area of assignment;  vocational teachers start at 2 years exp. minimum with journeyman experience and Texas Education Agency certification (based on annual start 30456).  
Windham Teacher (4 yrs. exp.)   2716 Bachelors & certification for area of assignment (based on annual start 32592).  
Windham Teacher (5 yrs. exp.)   2837 Bachelors & certification for area of assignment (based on annual start 34044).  
Windham Teacher (8 yrs. exp.)   3177 Bachelors & certification for area of assignment (based on annual start 38124).  
Windham Teacher (9 yrs. exp.)   3278 Bachelors & certification for area of assignment (based on annual start 39336).  
Windham Teacher (15 yrs. exp.)   3775 Bachelors & certification for area of assignment (based on annual start 45300).  
Windham Teacher (20 yrs. exp.)   4079 Bachelors & certification for area of assignment (based on annual start 48948).  
-- TDCJ  UTMB  CONTRACT  MEDICAL  SALARIES --
**Few start at low end in TDCJ UTMB, but at the higher end with a few years of experience & increase throughout tenure, UNLIKE the TDCJ positions!
Medical Records Tech I   1537 MRT Grad., no Experience  (based on annual start:  18454-24300) 1537-2025
Senior Secretary   1743 NO requirements (?) stated (based on annual start:  20923-28000). 1743-2333
Vocational Nurse 1907-2425 LVN (Licensed Vocational Nurse) in Texas (based on annual start:  22884-29100). 1907-2425
Staff Psychotherapist 2544-3366 Masters in 1 of several areas, Licensure in 1 area (based on annual start:  30532-40400) 2544-3366
Staff Nurse III 2691-3416 RN (Registered Nurse) with associate's degree in nursing, license in Texas & 2 years experience (based on annual start:  32295-41000). 2691-3416
Senior Pharmacist 3977-6460 Bachelors in Pharmacy, 3 yrs. exp., current or eligible for Texas License (based on annual start:  47733-77527) 3977-6460
Physician Assistant 3977-6460 Current Physician Assistant or Advanced Nurse Practioner License for Texas (based on annual start:  47733-77527) 3977-6460
Psychiatrist III 11,500 M.D. or D.O., eligible for Board Certification in Psychiatry, current Texas medical license (based on annual start 138000).