EDUCATION COMMITTEE TAKES UP SESSION’S MAJOR FUNDING BILL
(AUSTIN) — The state is poised to put more money into public education this session than it ever has before, according to the chair of the Senate Education K-16 Committee. That panel held a hearing Thursday to roll out the Senate’s version of a plan to increase public education funding by $8 billion in the form of HB 2. More than half of that money is going to increase teacher compensation. Bill sponsor and Conroe Senator Brandon Creighton told members that is four times more than the average increase in education spending in a given session. “Very exciting and historic dollars for our public schools,” he said. “More than any public education package that we’ve ever passed – every single district, from Beaumont to El Paso, from Wichita Falls to McAllen benefits.”
Perhaps the most significant difference between the House and Senate versions of the bill relates to how each chamber wants new funding to flow to public education. Both include the same amount in overall funding to public education, but the House increased the basic allotment, the central variable that determines the amount of per-student funding each district receives, by almost $400. The Senate proposal is a more modest $55 increase, but creates a new teacher pay allotment, which Creighton says will free up basic allotment money for districts to use for other purposes. “Because we are shifting billions and billions of dollars off of the basic allotment, and creating a new permanent teacher allotment, that basic allotment is now freed up,” he said. It guarantees salary increases for teachers once they reach year three and again at year five of their careers, increases that the new allotment makes permanent, said Creighton. Of the $4.2 billion in new funds for teacher compensation, Creighton said 80 percent will flow through the new teacher allotment, with 20 percent going to increase the state’s teacher merit bonus pay program, the teacher incentive allotment. The bill would allow up to half of the teachers in a given district to qualify for the merit program and increases the amount of those awards.
The proposed pay schedule is the same as the version passed by the Senate in the form of SB 26 in March. This proposal would distinguish between large and small districts to bring rural teachers closer to parity with their urban colleagues. Upon entering their third year of teaching, all teachers will receive a raise: $2,500 if they teach in an urban district and $5,000 if rural. Then in year five, teachers get a second guaranteed increase, another $3,000 and $5,000 for urban and rural respectively. Current teachers with five or more years experience will get the combined raises while teachers with 3 to 4 years experience will get the first salary bump and with the second part coming upon entering their fifth year. “We’re 14th in the nation in starting salary ranking, but we are a low ranking in the nation for our experienced teachers in compensation,” said Creighton. “And we’re losing them.”
HB 2 also contains the text of a number of bills already approved by the Senate with large majorities. This includes bills addressing educator working conditions and career and technology training and $1.3 billion in new funding for special education and $500 million for school safety. It also would pay to build mentorship programs, help train teachers, and get uncertified teachers credentialed. Creighton said that 56 percent of new teachers in 2024 lacked certification. The bill would require all public school teachers to be certified by 2030.
Given the differences between the chambers, the House and Senate will likely resolve the two proposals in a conference committee. They have until session ends on June 2nd to deliver increased school funding and raise teacher salaries by historic amounts. Money for this purpose is appropriated in both chambers’ budget proposal - now lawmakers must figure out the best way to get those dollars into the classroom.
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