Texas Senate gives initial approval to $8.5 billion in new funding for public schools
The Texas Senate gave preliminary approval to a bill late Thursday night that will inject $8.5 billion in new money for public schools.
The vote took place after 11 p.m., hours after Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and Speaker Dustin Burrows formally announced a deal on House Bill 2. Final passage is set for Friday, then the legislation will head to the Texas House for approval.
During an interview with CBS News Texas Thursday morning, the Chairman of the Senate Education K-16 Committee, Brandon Creighton said, "I believe it will pass overwhelmingly."
Creighton said the increased funding is $500 million dollars more than the agreement struck one week ago. He said the House and Senate negotiators kept talking.
"The Senate has been very focused on restructuring the old, archaic ways that we deploy dollars to our public schools because our outcomes have just not been meeting expectations," Creighton said.
About half of the new money, $ 4.2 billion, is for teacher pay raises, the largest in state history. Other non-administrative staff will receive a total of $500 million. Teachers with three or more years of experience would receive a raise, and that increase would double in year five. Teachers in rural school districts with five or more years of experience would receive up to $8,000 more. Free pre-K would be available for teachers as well.
The state will also invest $135 million in teacher preparation and certification programs, which will phase out uncertified teachers by 2030. These are teachers who have no formal, in-classroom training before being hired. The Texas Education Agency said that last year, 56% of first-time teachers were uncertified.
The deal also provides funding for full-day pre-K, an extra $300 million for small and mid-sized school districts, and an additional $800 million for growing and rural districts. School safety funding would increase by $430 million. Special education programs would receive an extra $850 million.
State Rep. James Talarico has been among the most vocal critics of the state's education funding bill.
"This was a backroom deal that wasn't done in the House chamber or the Senate chamber," he told CBS News Texas Thursday morning.
He said the basic allotment, or per-student funding, is much lower than it should be. Under the deal, it would increase by $55.
"We need at least a $1,300 increase to the basic allotment just to catch our schools up to 2019 funding levels."
But Creighton said the basic allotment is a starting point and that the Legislature is giving schools more money for school safety, special education, teacher preparation, and pay raises for teachers, among other things. He said teachers with three or more years of experience would see increases.
Talarico said the raises don't go far enough.
"What I am saying is we have a $24 billion budget surplus in this state, and so we should be using that money to give pay raises to all teachers, especially teachers who are under five years, because that's where we're seeing the most turnover," Talarico said.
Under the deal, Creighton said teacher and staff pay raises will be permanent, not just for a two-year period.
"If we would have only increased the basic allotment, that would have given a raise that would have stayed the same over time," Creighton said. "But it would not have had growing provisions and that budget refilling that teacher pay allotment cup at a higher amount each and every session."
