Will raises for Texas teachers be considered during Governor Abbott’s special session?
One item not on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s special session agenda: Pay raises for Texas teachers.
The item’s absence has gotten some attention as lawmakers headed back to Austin on Monday for their third special session. The call includes border security, banning COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and education savings accounts, a voucher-like program that would let public funds be used for private education.
The Texas State Teachers Association opposes vouchers and wants to see the agenda reworked to prioritize public education and public educators, said spokesperson Clay Robison.
“Leave vouchers off and put more funding for public schools and for pay raises for teachers and support staff,” he said.
Ahead of the special session, including in recent days, lawmakers from both political parties have expressed interest in giving Texas teachers a pay bump.
The Senate Finance Committee was scheduled to discuss legislation that includes “teacher compensation and funding for public schools” on Monday, even though the items are not on the governor’s call. The education committee takes up education savings accounts Tuesday. Abbott sets what topics are considered during special sessions.
A spokesperson for the governor did not return a request for comments by Monday morning. Requests for comment to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who heads the Senate, were also not returned.
House Speaker Dade Phelan told reporters he expects teacher pay to come up shortly after lawmakers adjourned for the day Monday afternoon.
“One hundred percent — hopefully retroactively,” he said, asked if he expects pay bumps for educators to be addressed in the House.
Education savings accounts have been a top priority for Abbott.
“Together, we will chart a brighter future for all Texas children by empowering parents to choose the best education option for their child,” he said in a Oct. 5 statement, announcing the special session agenda.
In the final days of the legislative session, leaders in the House and Senate said they expected to take up teacher pay in the fall.
The remarks came after the regular session ended in May with no raises after the issue was entangled with the push for “school choice.” The House has previously rejected using state dollars for vouchers and other similar programs.
The possibility of a one time stipend was brought up over the summer as lawmakers debated property tax relief, but the measure wasn’t included in the final compromise bill that passed and went to Abbott.
Legislators want to give teachers a pay bump, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in July, as lawmakers wrapped up an earlier special session.
“Of course the teachers expect a permanent raise, and we will have time in the fall I believe to give them a permanent raise and not just a one time raise,” he said.
Rep. Craig Goldman, a Fort Worth Republican who chairs the Texas House Republican Caucus, also said he thought there would be time, likely in October, where they could take up teacher pay raises.
“Everyone has talked about, let’s get there in October and see what we can come up with, with a plan that will give sustainable teacher pay raises to the teachers across the state of Texas,” he said in July.
In a Monday interview, Goldman stressed it’s still early in the session.
“I think there’s still plenty of time for the governor to add that to the agenda, and of course we all want our teachers to get a pay raise,” he said.
It’s day one: there’s a lot of activity, discussion and negotiations, Goldman said.
“There’s a lot of activity, a lot of discussions, a lot of negotiations,” he said.
Sen. Brandon Creighton filed a bill on Monday that includes a $3,000 bonus for teachers this school year and a raise of at least $3,000 for subsequent years. Senate Democrats have co-authored a separate school finance proposal.
Rep. Chris Turner, an Arlington Democrat, said teacher pay raises not being on the agenda is “another broken promise from our state’s Republican leadership.”
Robison with the Texas State Teachers Association was hopeful teacher pay raises would be included on the session’s agenda and remains hopeful it will be addressed. He doesn’t want to see the pay bumps tied to vouchers.
Texas Comptroller Glen Hegar on Thursday updated lawmakers on available funds as they prepare to head back to Austin. Lawmakers will end the 2024-2025 budget cycle with $18.3 billion, he said in a news release.
“Not a penny of that should go to private schools, but a good portion of that should go to public schools,” Robison said.
But educators are not interested in “negotiating away the future of public schools for their current and future students in exchange a raise,” said Monty Exter, governmental relations director for the Association of Texas Professional Educators.
“There are no trades for vouchers,” Exter said.
Turner, the Arlington Democratic House representative, echoed that position: “Put me in the camp of absolutely no deal for vouchers, no matter what else is attached to it.”
Senate Democrats are also united against vouchers, even if tied to teacher pay raises and the amount of money schools get per student, said Sen. Carol Alvarado, a Houston Democrat who chairs the Senate Democratic Caucus, in a Monday news conference.
“What we need is the Senate and the governor to agree to set their voucher scam aside and work to strengthen our public schools,” Turner said.
Goldman, the Fort Worth Republican House representative, sees room for negotiations on education savings accounts. Personally, he’s “for all schools” and for “parents making the best for their child to get the very best education that they can.”
“I feel assured that we will bring a bill to the floor that a majority of Republicans, if not a super majority, if not all Republicans, will be happy to vote for,” Goldman said.
Voucher-like programs have in the past faced opposition in the House, including from some Republicans.
Rep. Nate Schatzline, a Fort Worth Republican, said he’s unsure whether teacher pay raises will be the bargaining chip for education savings accounts.
“What I do know, is that I believe in, unapologetically, in both,” he said. “And I think the two are not mutually exclusive. That we have to fund our public schools and we also have to give school choice — universal school choice is what I’m advocating for — for all Texas families to be able to choose the best educational option for them.”
Sometimes people assume he’s anti-public education because he’s pro-school choice, Schatzline said.
“That just couldn’t be further from the truth,” Schatzline said, later adding, “I just believe there has to be accountability, and I believe the parent should have the final say on where their tax dollars are spent for their child’s education.”
The Association of Texas Professional Educators.would like to see standalone legislation for teacher pay raises, but recognizes that creating laws is a team effort and without the support of the governor or lieutenant governor, a bill isn’t going to pass.
“Teachers deserve a pay raise,” Exter said. “Students deserve better resourced schools. But ultimately, it is not in a current special session that we are likely to be able to get those things, particularly not without a voucher, privatization attached. We understand that’s going to be an issue where parents and teachers across the state are going to have to go to the polls during upcoming elections and prioritize those issues in their vote, in their candidate’s election.”
This story was originally published October 9, 2023 at 11:27 AM.
