Texas House approves $9B school bill, adds employee pay raise
In an attempt to resolve differences with the state Senate’s school finance plan, the Texas House added an $1,850 average pay raise for all school employees to its sweeping $9 billion school funding bill, which members approved Wednesday.
The Senate has already pushed through a $5,000 across-the-board pay raise for classroom teachers and librarians that would cost the state $4 billion over the next two years. The House’s proposal would apply to more individuals, from librarians and counselors to bus drivers and custodians.
The pay proposal comes after House leadership at the beginning of the session shied away from giving an across-the-board raise, saying they wanted to give districts flexibility in how to spend extra money that the Legislature plans to give over the next two years.
But House Bill 3 would increase the per student base funding, also called the basic allotment, from $5,140 to $6,030, and the bill would now prescribe that a quarter of that increase go toward the pay raise.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20190403/texas-house-approves-9b-school-bill-adds-employee-pay-raise
