Business & Briefs Senate Proposes Bill for Teacher Pay Raise

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said the last overall pay raise Texas teachers received was more than 20 years ago. The Texas Legislature is focusing on a pay raise for all Texas teachers. The Senate has proposed a bill to increase teachers’ pay by $5,000.

Senate Bill 3, mandates a pay raise for 350,000 teachers statewide, is going to cost the State of Texas $3.7 billion, which requires school districts to give their teachers an increase in salary. The bill was filed by Texas State Senator Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) who said, “The most important investment we can make in education is in our teachers.”

Patrick said, “I will be moving this bill to the floor and out of the Senate at the earliest possible date.” “I congratulate Senator Jane Nelson, and the Senate Finance Committee for passing Senate Bill 3 with a 15 to 0 unanimous vote. Teachers currently receive only a third of the funding we send to our schools. That’s why I first proposed an across-the-board pay raise for teachers in 2017 and why the $5,000 acrossthe-board pay raise for teachers in Senate Bill 3 is my No. 1 education priority this session. It will provide an immediate financial boost for teachers, assist in retaining good teachers, and recruit the best and the brightest to this critical profession. I will be moving this bill to the floor and out of the Senate at the earliest possible date.”

Olney ISD Superintendent Dr. Greg Roach said, “[I] am cautiously optimistic with concerns about actual funding, partial funding, or another unfunded mandate even with the somewhat positive rhetoric coming out of Austin.”