School Districts Express Concern About Teacher Pay Raise Proposal

One of the items Gov. Abbott placed on the agenda for the July special session is well meaning, but school boards say it would cause serious problems for their operations, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.

The governor, who, probably not coincidentally, is up for re-election next year, is asking lawmakers to give every public school teachers in the state a $1,000 a year pay raise.

Dax Gonzales of the Texas Association of School Boards says, while we would all like to see teachers make more money, the governor is not suggesting the state pay for it, and that makes it a crushing 'unfunded mandate' for local districts, many of which are struggling already.

"Trying to squeeze an extra thousand dollars per teacher, out of budgets that are already 80 to 85 percent salaries, you are asking districts to go beyond where many of them can," he said.

Gonzales says if the measure passes, you could see school district layoffs, and potentially schools closing due to the sudden added expense.

IMAGE: GETTY


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