Senate passes teacher pay raise bill

Today, the Texas Senate unanimously passed its teacher pay raise bill, SB 26. The bill would increase pay for teachers with at least three years of teaching experience and further differentiate pay raises depending on whether that teacher is in a district with fewer than 5,000 students or not.

Bill highlights

In smaller districts, defined as those with fewer than 5,000 students, teachers with at least three, but fewer than five, years of experience would receive a $5,000 raise; while those with five or more years of experience would receive a $10,000 raise. 

In larger districts (>5,000 students), those with at least three, but fewer than five, years of experience would receive a $2,500 raise and those with five or more years of experience would receive a $5,500 raise. 

Absent from the proposal are raises for teachers with fewer than three years of experience, nor are there mandated raises for other categories of personnel.

SB 26 would fully fund the teacher pay raise on an ongoing basis, at a cost of about $5 billion per year.

SB 26 would fully fund the teacher pay raise on an ongoing basis. 

TIA program changes

The bill would also change the Teacher Incentive Allotment program (TIA), generally increasing allotment amounts and adding a new designation, “acknowledged.” The committee substitute to the bill would have removed National Board certification as a route to earning a TIA designation, but TCTA succeeded in convincing the bill’s author, Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) to allow teachers with that certification a few years of leeway to continue receiving their TIA allotment. We will continue to work on this issue in the House.

The bill is now headed to the House Public Education Committee, where it will likely compete with the House’s flagship education proposal, HB 2.  

TCTA will work closely with legislative leaders on both pieces of legislation to ensure the best version of a teacher pay raise possible.