On Tuesday, February 18, 2025, Sen. Brandon Creighton, chair of the Senate Committee on Education K-16, filed SB 26, which provides a teacher pay increase and will be heard in the Senate Committee on Education K-16 on Thursday, February 20, beginning at 11 a.m. or upon adjournment of the Senate.
Highlights of SB 26
- Creates a teacher retention allotment for school districts and charter schools in the Foundation School Program above the salary the teacher would have received during the 2024-25 school year. Distribution of the allotment would be as follows:
- Districts with 5,000 or fewer students – $5,000 for each classroom teacher who has at least 3 years but less than 5 years of teaching experience and $10,000 for each classroom teacher who has 5 or more years of experience; or
- Districts with more than 5,000 students – $2,500 for each classroom teacher who has at least 3 years of teaching experience but less than five years of teaching experience and $5,500 for each classroom teacher who has five or more years of teaching experience.
- Creates a Local Optional Teacher Designation System Grant Program for school districts that would be administered by TEA and would provide money and technical assistance to districts that:
- Uses a salary schedule for all instructional staff that differentiates among staff appraisals and does not include across-the-board salary increases, except for periodic changes to the district’s salary schedule to adjust for significant inflation; and
- Implements a plan that places highly qualified teachers at high need campuses.
- Requires TEA to contract with a third party to provide services to classroom teachers that include assisting teachers with understanding the teacher’s rights, duties, and benefits as well as providing liability insurance. Prohibits school districts from interfering with a teacher’s access to these services. The third-party contractor would be barred from engaging in lobbying or advocacy efforts related to public schools, including for boards of trustees or school districts.
- Allows children of classroom teachers to be eligible for pre-K under the FSP
- Increases money awards under the Teacher Incentive Allotment and creates a new designation level for an “acknowledged” teacher with an allotment of $3,000.
See the committee hearing posting.
