CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Texas public education is getting a major financial boost with $8.5 billion in new funding and an additional $4 billion dedicated to pay raises for teachers and staff through House Bill 2, recently signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott.
"It's about time that the Texas legislature puts public education teachers at the forefront," said Nancy Vera, president of Corpus Christi Federation of Teachers.
In the Coastal Bend, school districts like West Oso are preparing to distribute these much-needed funds to educators and staff.
"Our teachers with three to four years of experience will get $4,000 extra next year. And then teachers with five or more years of experience will get $8,000," said Superintendent Kimberly Moore of West Oso ISD.
Moore emphasized that this financial support was long overdue for educators in her district.
While the budget is still being finalized, West Oso ISD expects to receive approximately $2 million, with the majority allocated for staff raises.
"About $800,000 of that is going to be for required staff increases. Another $70,000 for raises for all of our non-certified staff," Moore said.
Despite the funding increase, some education advocates believe more is needed. Vera points out that rising costs may diminish the impact of these raises.
"With the costs and the increase in insurance, it's going to offset the raises substantially," Vera said.
As Moore works through budget planning, she expressed concern about equitable distribution of the funds across all staff positions.
"So now our challenge is, again, how do we increase wages for the rest of our staff?" Moore said.
The superintendent also noted ongoing financial pressures facing the district beyond salary increases.
"Right now we have about $1 million that we can make decisions regarding. But that also—we have lots of expenses just fixing things in the district, maintenance. Across the board, prices have risen because of inflation," Moore said.
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