On Monday, the Texas Senate unanimously approved SB 3 by State Senator Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, providing a permanent $5,000 annual salary increase for every classroom teacher in the state.
The bill will now go to the Texas House of Representatives for further consideration, according to a news release from Nelson’s office.
“It has been a decade since teachers received a small raise from the state,” Nelson said. “It’s been two decades since they received a meaningful raise. It’s time to give our teachers — all of our teachers — a raise.”
Specifically, SB 3:
- Establishes a new Classroom Teacher Salary Allotment
- Directs that each classroom teacher and librarian is entitled to a $5000 salary increase above their 2018-19 school year salary
- Specifies that raise is paid for by the state
- Clarifies that this bill does not preclude districts from offering merit raises
- Ensures that districts may not use these dollars to supplant current salaries.
SB 1, the Senate’s base budget, includes $3.7 billion for SB 3. Teacher pay was designated as an emergency item by Governor Abbott in his State of the State Address.
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