Texas Governor Greg Abbott Announces $1.6B in Teacher Raises
Style Magazine Newswire | 5/31/2019, 3:55 p.m.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said that $1.6 billion in teacher raises are coming. Abbott trumpeted the pay hikes near the end the Texas Legislative session. A spending bill is not yet signed but is expected to reach Abbott’s desk before lawmakers adjourn until 2021. It makes Texas the latest state — and now the largest — to pour significant new dollars into classrooms in wake of teacher revolts across the U.S. since 2017. Public school teachers in Texas don’t collectively bargain and never went on strike, but teacher unions said they made their resentment known at the ballot box last year. Teacher salaries in Texas are currently about $7,000 below the national average, according to the National Education Association. Lawmakers who worked on the new spending plan says the raises amount to roughly $4,000 for teachers with more than five years in the classroom.
