Texas Senate passes SB 26 aiming give raises to teachers
TX Senate passes bill to give teachers raises
Texas teachers are one step closer to getting a pay raise. On Wednesday, the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 26, aimed at improving teacher pay and retention.
AUSTIN, Texas - Texas teachers are one step closer to getting a pay raise.
On Wednesday, the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 26, aimed at improving teacher pay and retention.
RELATED: Teacher pay raise bill sails through Texas Senate committee
Texas Senate committee advances teacher pay bill
A Texas Senate committee has voted to advance Senate Bill 26, a comprehensive bill that would increase teacher pay after public comment on Thursday.
What they're saying:
Senator Creighton, author of Senate Bill 26, stood before a bipartisan group of lawmakers to break down the legislation at the state capitol on Wednesday afternoon.
"Today I am laying out Senate Bill 26, the first pilar of my Texas teacher bill of rights and one of Governor Abbott's emergency priorities this session, one of Lt. Governor Patrick’s highest priorities of the session," says Conroe Senator and Committee Chair Brandon Creighton.
"This is a permanent commitment in the state budget to elevate the teaching profession in Texas and to raise their salaries," says Creighton.
What will SB 26 grant teachers?
By the numbers:
The bill would grant independent school districts with 5,000 or fewer students a teacher pay raise starting at $5,000.
Teachers with five or more years of experience would get $10,000.
In larger districts, the pay raise would start at $2,500 and increase to $5,500 for teachers with experience.
The other side:
Clay Robison with the Texas State Teachers Association says the benefits are not enough to improve retention rates.
"The legislature can do better than this, and they must do better than this if they want to ease the teacher shortage in Texas," says Texas State Teachers Association spokesman Clay Robison.
The bill was approved unanimously by the Senate Education Committee last week before the legislation passed the full Senate on Thursday.
Robison says this was expected.
"We're fully aware that this is going to be fought out in the House. The house has also proposed a teacher pay raise. They approach it differently. It is also inadequate. There's plenty of time for that for the legislature to get their act together and pay teachers more than either the House or the Senate is offering now. And we hope that this will happen in the House," says Creighton.
What's next:
The bill will now move to the house, then possibly to the Governor’s desk.
The Source: Information from the Texas Legislative Session