SAN ANTONIO – Gov. Greg Abbott announced during his State of the State address that he will raise the average pay for teachers across Texas.
The governor said teachers play a key role in the success of students in the state.
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“They educate the next generation of entrepreneurs, scientists, and leaders, shaping the future of our state and country,” the governor said. “Texas must fund and support our teachers to ensure students across the state receive a high-quality education.”
During his announcement, he made teacher pay an emergency item.
In a detailed release, Abbott listed the ways he and the Texas Legislature have worked together to emphasize attracting, retaining, and supporting teachers:
- Created the Texas Incentive Allotment program in 2019
- Increased average teacher pay to an all-time high of $62,474
- Provided over $575 million in merit-based pay raises to more than 25,000 teachers
- Invested over $500 million to enhance public school curriculums throughout the state
Now, the governor is looking to get teachers to a six-figure salary. To achieve this goal, the governor and Texas Legislature will do the following:
- Increase teacher salaries through direct appropriation in teacher pay and other forms of compensation
- Invest $750 million in 2026-2027 to expand the Texas Incentive Allotment
- This would bring more teachers into a merit pay program sooner and increase merit pay amounts overall
- Waive fees for high-need areas, like special and bilingual education
- Help mitigate costs for districts that hire retired teachers
- Invest in high-quality teacher preparation pathways
- Increase the Mentor Program Allotment
- Develop statewide mentor teacher training
- Fund a statewide marketing campaign to recruit more teachers
- Collect data regarding teacher retention and recruitment
You can watch Abbott’s speech on teacher pay by clicking here.
Local school districts are responding to the governor’s emergency item and sent KSAT the following statements:
North East ISD:
“We are in favor of a teacher pay increase, and we are also in favor of support staff getting an increase too. There are many people in a school district that are instrumental to a child’s education, including custodians, school nutrition staff, bus drivers, just to name a few.”
San Antonio ISD:
“We welcome an increase in teacher salaries and an elevation of the teaching profession. Teachers take on one of the most important responsibilities in our society: educating our next generation. Paying teachers a professional salary aligned with their critical role is the right thing to do and is also necessary to improve student performance and our economic future.”
KSAT has reached out to other districts in the community and is waiting to hear back. Updates will be made as they come in.