The Texas Senate unveiled plans for an $8 billion public school funding counterproposal against the House's multibillion-dollar legislation.
The former would establish a long-term teacher salary raise that would be based on the educator's years of experience on the job. It would also phase out the state's reliance on untrained teachers by the end of the decade while overhauling Texas' special education funding system.
Texas' $8 Billion School Funding Proposal
The chair of the Senate's education committee, Sen. Brandon Creighton, said that his version of House Bill 2 is an $8 billion investment into the state's public schools. He added that it is both an exciting and historic milestone.
Creighton added that the proposal will encompass more funding than any public education package that they have ever passed in history. During a public hearing for the legislation on Thursday, the Conroe Republican said that the bill will benefit all districts in the state, according to the Texas Tribune.
The funding came about following ongoing negotiations between House and Senate leaders, who have been making efforts to find a middle ground on the matter. This comes as the end of their 2025 legislative session is fast approaching.
In creating the latest version, the Texas Senate took many of the education bills that were passed by the chamber earlier in the session and turned them into one proposal. Two notable deviations in the Senate Bill from the House's version were highlighted: a $55 per-student increase to public schools' base funding and the removal of millions of funding for fine arts.
Supporting the State's Education System
Despite the unveiling of the massive $8 billion funding, the proposal's exact policy language was not yet made available to the public. But a summary document showed it would set aside $4.2 billion for teachers' pay increase, $1.3 billion for special education, $677 million for various reforms, and many others, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
Officials expect that the bill will be filed soon and will be available for public hearing at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday. This comes as the three major Republican leaders in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, all endorsed the bill.
The proposal comes after Abbott signed a law earlier this month that made about 5 million students across Texas eligible to use state funds for private schools. It allowed the state to allocate $1 billion for the first two years of the program, giving parents a chance to get vouchers that they can use to pay for their children's education, as per Reuters.
