Members of the Texas Senate Education Committee unanimously passed a measure to raise teachers’ salaries based on tenure.
In an 11-0 vote, senators approved a committee substitute for Senate Bill 26 by State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe). The measure is the first part of a “Texas Teacher Bill of Rights” legislative package.
Both Gov. Greg Abbott, in his State of the State Address, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have tagged teacher pay raises as among their priorities for the 89th Legislative Session.
While a substitute for SB 26 is what passed in the committee, access to the text of the committee substitute has not been made public thus far. Still, the difference between the committee substitute and what eventually passed is not currently understood to be substantial.
The original SB 26 measure could raise teachers’ pay by up to $10,000. It also expands the Teacher Incentive Allotment program, a designation and distribution system established in 2019 to provide performance-based bonuses to teachers.
“The House may pour more of their priorities into the basic allotment [the pay increases]. We may fill certain buckets and create a permanent teacher allotment. And then at the end of session, we’ll come together, and we’ll negotiate those differences,” Creighton said at the committee hearing before the vote.
“We’re working with urgency in a way that values your time and respects your needs as teachers, and this is just the next step,” he added.
SB 26’s tenure-based pay raises are structured to assist rural teachers the most.
For school districts with 5,000 or fewer students, pay raises begin at $5,000 but double to $10,000 for teachers with five or more years of experience.
In districts with more than 5,000 students, the measure would give an additional $2,500 per year to teachers with three to four years of experience and $5,500 to teachers with five or more years of experience.
The measure further directs the Texas Education Agency to give districts more funding for TIA programs if district administration agrees not to stop giving across-the-board salary increases for instructional staff, bar inflation.
SB 26 would also allow up to 50 percent of a school district’s teachers to participate in TIA, up from the current cap of 33 percent.
Controversially, the measure appears to permit uncertified teachers to receive the pay increases.
State Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) asked Creighton for a definition of language in the tenure-based pay raises that designates the district employees eligible for them as “instructional staff” rather than simply “teachers.”
“If they’re providing instruction and assistance in that classroom, they would qualify,” answered Creighton.
“If it’s just for teachers, then we should use teachers,” responded West.
“I’ll work with you on that,” Creighton told West.
According to an August 2024 study by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, half of newly hired teachers in Texas now lack certification and classroom experience.
The study also found that uncertified teachers leave the classroom at higher rates, and more experienced teachers are burdened with training and mentoring uncertified coworkers.
As Texas Scorecard has previously reported, many instructors who are charged with sex crimes against students are noncertified teaching faculty.
SB 26 includes free pre-kindergarten for teachers’ children in addition to the basic allotment and new opportunities for performance-based bonuses in the TIA program.
It also provides teachers with new liability protections, which would help them understand their “rights, duties, and benefits” and protect them against liability to a third party for “conduct that the teacher allegedly engaged in during the course of the teacher’s duties.”
Aileen Blachowski, who runs the grassroots parental rights organization Texas Education 911, supports teachers’ indemnification against certain actions, but only if parents are also given the right to civil action.
“It doesn’t make sense to double-insulate teachers in this day and age. We have already documented the thousands of students who have been physically and sexually abused by Texas teachers and other school employees without leveling the playing field,” Blachowski told Texas Scorecard.
Blachowski said that she has already been in talks with lawmakers about legislation that would exempt physical and sexual abuse from teachers’ liability.
Her remarks are pursuant to the original SB 26 measure, which she has reviewed, rather than the committee substitute.
Before committee members voted on the substitute for SB 26, they heard from a wide range of educators about the state of teacher pay in Texas, as well as the viability of the TIA program.
Imelda De La Rosa, a science teacher at Salvador Garcia Middle School in Laredo, testified that she has directly benefited from the TIA’s performance-based bonuses in her small, rural school.
“Getting to keep my TIA designation at this campus played a key role in my decision to accept [the position] in the community I grew up in,” said De La Rosa.
Creighton called the measure a “bold step forward in honoring the essential role our teachers play in shaping the next generation and strengthening Texas’ future” in a post on X shortly after it passed the committee.
As introduced, an estimate from the Legislative Budget Board puts the original measure’s cost at around $4.3 billion through the biennium ending in late August 2027. The appropriation for SB 26 is likely to be decided as budget talks proceed.
The same day the committee substitute for SB 26 passed, State Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Allen) filed House Bill 6, a measure that also claims the Texas Teacher Bill of Rights title.
“Our teachers should be spending their time educating, not constantly managing disruptions and disciplinary issues,” stated Leach. “House Bill 6 ensures that educators have the tools and authority necessary to uphold classroom discipline, allowing them to focus on what they do best—teaching the next generation of Texans.”
No ads. No paywalls. No government grants. No corporate masters.
Just real news for real Texans.
Support Texas Scorecard to keep it that way!
