Texas House approves school financing, raises for teachers and other school staffers

The Texas House approved a landmark school finance bill Wednesday that pumps an extra $9 billion into Texas schools and includes pay raises for most full-time school employees.

House Bill 3, which passed on a 148-1 vote, rewrites the way public education is funded in Texas. It heads to the Senate for consideration.

“Today is a great day for Texas children,” said House Speaker Dennis Bonnen of the measure dubbed “The Texas Plan.” “It’s a great day for their parents. It’s a great day for the teachers who educate them.”

Bonnen called the long-awaited measure authored by state Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Humble, “significant, transformative, decade-changing school finance reform.”

State Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, successfully proposed an amendment to the bill that gives school employees an across-the-board raise.

“There’s been a lot of talk this session about raising teacher pay and a lot of disagreement on the best way to do it,” Turner said. “This amendment strikes the perfect balance by giving a uniform raise to teachers and support staff, making pay increases sustainable beyond the next two-year budget cycle and ensuring that local districts have flexibility on how to use these additional funds for salaries.”

HB 3 provides extra funding for Texas schools starting in 2020, leaving extra money in school districts across the state.

It not only increases the minimum per student funding amount from $5,140 to $6,030, but also pays for pre-kindergarten for low-income students and reduces the amount many schools pay into the so-called Robin Hood funding plan.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott visited the House chamber and was seen chatting with Bonnen as debate over the bill began Wednesday.

“Texans are demanding meaningful reforms to our school finance system, and today’s passage of HB 3 in the House is a vital step toward that goal,” Abbott said in a statement after the bill passed. “By reducing recapture, investing more money in our schools and in our teachers, the Legislature is making changes that will have a lasting impact on our education system, and more importantly, our students.”

State Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, was the one vote against the bill.

The legislative session ends May 27.

Raises

Turner said giving teachers and school employees across-the-board raises is the right thing to do.

“I think this is something we can all be proud of,” Turner told House members. “Every full-time (school) employee should get a deserved raise.”

This proposal differs from the Senate plan, which calls for a $5,000 across-the-board raise for full-time teachers and librarians.

But Turner said this proposal guarantees that all full-time school employees —teachers, librarians, custodial workers, nurses and more — get a raise. School administrators would not receive these raises.

His amendment calls for 25 percent of the new money schools will receive through HB 3 to be set aside for raises for full-time school employees, other than administrators.

Districts must use 75 percent of that money to give equal raises to every school employee. The remaining 25 percent of that money is also for raises, but district administrators may decide which employees receive this money.

Turner said this means all school employees in Texas would receive a raise of around $1,850 a year.

And any time in the future the state boosts the minimum amount spent per student — which in this bill grows by $890 — another 25 percent of the new money would be set aside for raises.

“This is not a maximum (raise). It’s a minimum,” said state Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo.

House Bill 3

Overall, this bill leaves more local tax dollars at local schools. And it lets suburban districts considered wealthy keep more of their own tax dollars by requiring them to send less to help poorer schools through the state’s so-called Robin Hood funding system.

Educators across the state have said the bill would boost local budgets and let them expand academic programs, hire new teachers and give raises.

Here’s a look at how much more money some Tarrant County school districts would receive in 2020 and if they’ll be affected by the Robin Hood plan, according to HB 3.

▪ Arlington: $33 million, or $609 per student.

▪ Carroll: $3.3 million, or $409 per student. This district is scheduled to send $38 million to the state through Robin Hood, but that would drop to $29 million under this plan.

▪ Fort Worth: $66.4 million, or $888 per student. The district said the money would go into the general fund. Fort Worth was not expected to give or receive dollars through the so-called Robin Hood school funding plan.

▪ Grapevine-Colleyville: $5.2 million, or $401 per student. This district was scheduled to send $66 million to the state through Robin Hood, but that drops to $49.8 million under this plan.

This story was originally published April 3, 2019 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Texas House approves school financing, raises for teachers and other school staffers."

Anna M. Tinsley

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

817-390-7610

Anna M. Tinsley grew up in a journalism family and has been a reporter for the Star-Telegram since 2001. She has covered the Texas Legislature and politics for more than two decades and has won multiple awards for political reporting, most recently a third place from APME for deadline writing. She is a Baylor University graduate.