Educators say proposed increases for school funding, teacher pay are inadequate

AUSTIN – The Dallas Morning News reports that st a Thursday hearing at the Capitol, dozens of public school teachers and officials testified that a bill proposing $7.5 billion in school funding does not go far enough. House Bill 2 proposes raising the per-student allotment by $220 to $6,360 a year, but teachers, administrators and advocates told the House Public Education Committee the increase falls short of meeting the needs of the state’s school districts. HB 2’s proposed pay raises for teachers also were panned as inadequate. “The pay teachers receive demonstrates the level of respect afforded to our children,” said Megan Holden, a 10th grade English teacher at an Austin-area high school. “They are getting the message that Texas doesn’t value them or their future.” HB 2 would devote 40% of the basic allotment to teacher pay.

The basic allotment would need to rise by $1,300 to keep up with inflation since 2019, when the Legislature last increased the payment, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The proposed $220 increase is also less than half of the $500 increase that was proposed in 2023 but died after Gov. Greg Abbott said he would veto any bill increasing school funding that did not create a program allowing public money to be spent on private schools. HB 2 includes other mechanisms that provide money to public schools but in more targeted fashions aimed at special education and pay boosts for high-performing teachers. The House’s proposal to raise teacher pay is part of a “Texas two step” Republicans have proposed in tandem with a voucher-style school choice proposal. Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Salado, is the author of the school funding bill, the voucher proposal and another bill that would scale back the STAAR test and replace it with a different standardized testing system.