By Chris Fox, KRLD Austin Bureau Chief
AUSTIN (1080 KRLD) - Less than a day after the State Senate passed a $5 thousand dollar teacher and librarian pay raise, the State House laid out their "Texas Plan" in a State Capitol press conference.
House Speaker Dennis Bonnen says it invests in students and teachers, puts more money in the classroom, reduces Robin Hood and focuses on early childhood education. “Through House Bill 3 (HB3) the House is investing $9-billion in funding above enrollment growth and current law entitlements to go towards advancing student achievement, supporting Texas teachers and providing property tax reform for all Texans.”
As for teacher pay raises, the House’s ‘Texas Plan’ leaves the raises up to the local school districts.
State House Education committee chair Dan Huberty said their plan doesn’t include across the board pay raises. “When we developed this plan and we started working this plan that was not our goal. Our goal was to put $6.3-billion into the system and we think that’s important, plus really it’s $9-billion when you think about the tax relief we’re talking about going forward.” Hubert added that they’re giving the resources to the school districts and the board members that live in that community. “The money is going into the classroom and if you think of the $6.3-billion that is going to the classroom which will be paid to teachers and aides and counselors and other people.” The plan includes teacher incentives that don’t use test scores.
Huberty says HB3 also includes $2.7-billion dollars in tax relief “There’s a 4-cent across the board tax relief cut every school district is getting. In addition to that we cutting recapture by over $3-billion. Those are significant changes in a system that is systematically broken.”
The Texas Plan web site says HB3 fundamentally transforms the entire school finance system to accelerate student achievement, prioritize teacher quality, and make available more dollars for the classroom. When asked how HB3 compares with the Senate’s, Bonnen described their plan as more comprehensive than that of the State Senate. “I don’t know how you call a $5-thousand across the board teacher pay raise (a plan)-period-nothing else-no discussion of reducing recapture, no discussion of reducing property taxes, no discussion of early childhood education, no discussion of incentivizing a teacher to go into a tougher school to teach.”
HOUSE BILL 3 ALSO INVESTS IN TEXAS STUDENTS AND CLASSROOMS THROUGH:
• A more equitable system that gives districts the ability to earn and keep more money from local property taxes
• A new grant program allowing parents to utilize additional services for children with learning disabilities
• Updates to the transportation funding model, which creates a simplified $1.00 per mile reimbursement
• Quadrupling the allocation for building and equipping new facilities to $100 million per year
Governor Abbott released a statement saying he looks forward to working with the House and Senate to better fund Texas schools. “We promised Texans that this session would be transformative and address big issues like school finance and property tax reform, and today’s announcement by Chairman Huberty is a big step in honoring that pledge.”