AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Senate’s Committee on Education K-16 approved a bill Thursday that would give pay raises to teachers based on performance and experience. 

What You Need To Know

  • Senate Bill 26, introduced by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, was unanimously approved and establishes yearly pay raises for third- and fifth-year teachers

  • Creighton says the bill’s funding model will also remove guardrails from the districts’ discretionary spending, which he hopes will result in more money to pay other educators

  • The SB 26 is now heading to the Senate floor for debate

But Lockhart Independent School District Superintendent Mark Estrada says the bill doesn’t do enough. 

“In Lockhart ISD, almost half of our staff are not in the classroom. You know, you have people who support classroom instruction, who support learning, who also are in need of a raise as well,” he said. 

Senate Bill 26, introduced by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, was unanimously approved and establishes yearly pay raises for third- and fifth-year teachers. 

“Ensuring that they don’t just start strong, but that they stay strong in their careers going forward,” said Creighton. 

Creighton says the bill’s funding model will also remove guardrails from the districts’ discretionary spending, which he hopes will result in more money to pay other educators. 

“That basic allotment can also be used in ways it hasn’t been used before, for energy cost and transportation costs and day-to-day things that affect some districts different than other districts,” he said. 

But all of this could be held hostage. In the previous session, Gov. Greg Abbott promised he wouldn’t sign a bill for more public school funding without passing a school voucher bill that would send tax dollars to private schools. 

Still, one educator says they don’t plan to stop pushing back against vouchers. 

“No amount of incentives that they throw at us is going to throw us from that path. And that’s the issue that the governor is having is that he can’t pay the educators off at this moment. We are going to continue to say that vouchers are wrong for Texas,” said Ovidia Molina with the Texas State Teachers Association.  

Lockhart’s superintendent said he will continue to advocate for a proposal to increase pay for educators in and out of the classroom. 

“The cost of living has outpaced their pay. And it is not right that public school educators and teachers across the state of Texas cannot afford to live in the communities,” said Estrada. 

The SB 26 is now heading to the Senate floor for debate.

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