Senate Bill 26 Written Testimony By Max Rombado

Raise Your Hand Texas submitted the following written testimony in response to the Texas Senate Committee on Education K-16 Hearing on February 20, 2025. Raise Your Hand Texas will continue to keep the public informed through written and invited/public testimony on the issues related to public education in Texas.

Written by Max Rombado

Raise Your Hand Texas
Before the Texas Senate Committee on Education K-16  

The Honorable Senator Brandon Creighton, Chair

February 20, 2025

Senate Bill 26 by Senator Creighton:  Support

Key Points: 

• Texas currently falls $8,800 below the national average in teacher pay. SB 26 is a good initial step in closing this gap.
• Allowing free pre-kindergarten for teachers’ children supports educators by giving their kids a strong educational foundation from an early age.
• Raise Your Hand Texas looks forward to discussing other teacher workforce policies that will help attract, train, and retain teachers in our state, including funding for the Future Texas Teacher Scholarship Program and other approaches to finding additional flexible funding for our public schools. 

Raise Your Hand Texas supports elevating teaching as a career, treating teachers as professionals, attracting and preparing a strong teacher workforce, and retaining quality educators in the field. Texas needs to provide teachers with a salary and benefits commensurate with their training and the complexity of their work.

SB 26 acknowledges the hard work and dedication of our educators, who play an essential role in shaping the future of our children and, ultimately, the success of our state. SB 26 is a good first step in addressing teacher pay in Texas. Texas currently falls $8,800 below the national average in teacher salaries. Raise Your Hand Texas appreciates the provision allowing free pre-kindergarten for teachers’ children, which supports educators by giving their kids a strong educational foundation from an early age. 

Texas still has a long way to go in closing the gap between teacher salaries compared to the national average. It is imperative that we continue to work towards increasing pay for all teachers, ensuring that no educator feels undervalued or overburdened by the financial strain of their profession. 

As we move forward in the legislative session, Raise Your Hand Texas hopes to see further legislation to provide teachers with additional meaningful support and legislation ensuring that public schools are given the flexible funding they need to keep up with rising inflation and other cost pressures. 

We also look forward to discussing other policy initiatives that will help attract, train, and retain teachers in our state, including funding for the Future Texas Teacher Scholarship Program–a statute passed, but not funded, last session that provides scholarships for aspiring teachers to attend high-quality educator preparation programs. 

Again, thank you, Senator Creighton, for taking the first step toward this important issue.  Raise Your Hand Texas looks forward to continued progress throughout the session.