House proposes $7.5 billion in new school funding
Critics say a House bill proposing $7.5 billion in new funding for public education doesn’t go far enough, The Dallas Morning News reported. House Bill 2 would raise the per-student allotment by $220, to $6,360 a year. It would also invest $750 million in teacher pay and $450 million in teacher training.
The bill by Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Salado, would increase the amount of allotment used to raise salaries for non-administrative staff from the current 30% to 40%. Some testifying against the bill said the proposed raises for teachers is inadequate.
“The pay teachers receive demonstrates the level of respect afforded to our children,” said Megan Holden, a 10th-grade English teacher at an Austin-area high school. “They are getting the message that Texas doesn’t value them or their future.”
The basic allotment would need to increase by $1,300 to keep up with inflation since 2019, according to The News. That’s the last time the allotment was increased.
The Texas Senate has already passed its version of a public education bill: a measure that would give $10,000 raises to teachers with at least five years working in districts with fewer than 5,000 students, with teachers in larger districts getting $5,500 raises.
The average teacher in Texas made $62,500 last year, according to the Texas Education Agency, up from $54,000 in 2019.
State workers must return in person to offices
Gov. Greg Abbott has directed heads of state agencies to phase out remote work “as soon as practicable,” the Texas Standard reported. That follows a similar mandate for federal workers issued by President Trump last week.
“Texans expect their public servants to be present and engaged in the work on their behalf,” Andrew Mahaleris, the governor’s press secretary, said in a statement. “With remote federal workers returning to the office where possible, it’s important that state agencies ensure they do the same.”
Risk of wildfires increasing; feds provide funding
Wildfire season is underway in the state with burn bans in place in 111 counties, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. The Welder Complex fire in Sinton was the only active fire as of Sunday. It had burned 803 acres and was 95% contained.
Abbott’s office announced last week that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved the state’s request for federal assistance for the Welder Fire in San Patricio County and the Duke Fire in Bexar County. The approval from FEMA makes the state eligible to be reimbursed for 75% of the costs associated with fighting the two fires.
On a single day last week, state emergency responders battled 41 new wildfires that burned more than 4,400 acres.
Measles cases in South Plains near 200
The number of measles cases reported in the South Plains region of the state reached 198 as of last Friday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Twenty-three people have been hospitalized and one unvaccinated school-aged child has died.
More than two-thirds of the cases have been in Gaines County, southwest of Lubbock. An unvaccinated New Mexico adult in Lea County, just over the border from Gaines County, died last week.
Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: [email protected]