AUSTIN (WBAP/KLIF News) — The Texas Senate has approved a bill that would fund teacher bonuses and improved health care, but not pay raises.
Senate Bill 19 passed with a 28-to-3 vote Tuesday night. It will give teachers with six or more years experience a bonus beginning next September.
The $1,000 pay raise for teachers was scrapped because of controversy on where the money would come from. Many teachers opposed the raises because they did not want them to come from the school districts and instead wanted the state to pay for them.
The bill was the first one that’s fully passed since the Sunset Bill was passed last week. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said in a statement he is proud of the Senate for passing the bill, and that “teachers are the most valuable educational resource in the classroom.”
