Teacher Pay: Texas Teachers Deserve a Real Pay Raise

With just a few weeks left in the 88th Legislative Session, lawmakers are deciding how to spend a record-breaking $33 billion surplus, with tens of billions more in estimated growth in revenue over the next two years. And, as the hours creep closer and closer to the last day of the 2023 legislative session, they are not deciding to spend it on teachers.

You may have seen headlines about some major legislation — Senate Bill 9 and House Bill 100 are two of the proposals out there that would increase teacher pay. But here’s what you need to know about those bills: they don’t come anywhere close to moving Texas teacher pay in line with the national average OR bumping their salaries enough to keep up with inflation. 

Hear from Raise Your Hand Texas teacher specialist JoLisa Hoover and three Texas teachers (Mineola ISD, Northwest ISD, and El Paso ISD). They will share the reasons why a real pay raise is needed, and why one of the teachers is leaving the classroom at the end of this school year. 

Read the podcast transcript here.