Senator Nelson Pushes for Teacher Pay Increase

AUSTIN – Texas State Senator Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, today filed SB 19, providing pay and benefit increases for Texas teachers.

"This is the most important investment we can make in the future of our state,” Senator Nelson, a former sixth-grade teacher, said. “Quality teachers are the key to a good education, and a good education is more precious than gold.”

SB 19 provides career bonuses in the current budget cycle, increases classroom teacher salaries beginning in 2020, and bolsters the Teacher Retirement System. Specifically, it provides:

• a $600 bonus to teachers who have served 6 to 10 years;
• a $1,000 bonus for teachers who have served 11 or more years;
• $1,000 per teacher to each district for pay increases beginning in the 19-20 school year; and
• an additional $212 million to the TRS to reduce costs for TRS participants for items such as premiums, deductibles, prescription drugs, and to assist with premiums and out-of-pocket costs for disabled adult dependents of retired teachers.

"Our teachers deserve this for their service to our state," Senator Nelson said. "As a former teacher and a mother and sister of teachers, I understand this is a labor of love, but we can and should do a better job of retaining our teachers and attracting the best and brightest to education. There is no profession that will have a more significant impact on the success of our state."

To read the legislation, visit http://www.capitol.texas.gov and look up SB 19. For a one-page overview, visit SB19.

SENATOR JANE NELSON represents District 12, including portions of Tarrant and Denton Counties. She is Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the highest-ranking Republican in the Texas Senate.

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