Historic public school funding bill clears Texas House, awaits Gov. Abbott's signature
The Texas House has passed the largest public school funding increase in state history, sending the measure to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk for final approval.
Just before 4 p.m., lawmakers in the lower chamber overwhelmingly approved House Bill 2, which allocates $8.5 billion in new funding for public education. Roughly half of that amount will go toward permanent pay raises for most teachers and non-administrative staff.
Texas Capitol at sunset on a cloudy day
Getty Images/iStockphoto
The Senate unanimously approved the measure 31-0 on Friday night.
The legislation also includes a significant overhaul of the state's special education programs, aiming to improve services and support for students with disabilities.
Republicans say the $8.5 billion increase in public school funding represents the largest single increase in state history.
About half of this new money, $4.2 billion, is for teacher pay raises, the largest in state history. Other non-administrative staff will also receive a raise.
Teachers with three plus years of experience would receive a raise, and that increase would double in year five. Teachers in rural school districts and five plus years of experience would receive up to $8,000 more. Free pre-K is available for teachers as well.
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CNN
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Earlier this year, Trump yanked Zaid's security clearance, a decision, the attorney said in a lawsuit, that undermines his ability to 'zealously advocate on (his clients') behalf in the national security arena.' In court papers, Zaid's attorneys argued that the president's decision was a 'retaliatory directive,' invoking language from the Vullo decision to argue that the move violated his First Amendment rights. ''Government officials cannot attempt to coerce private parties in order to punish or suppress views that the government disfavors,'' they wrote, quoting from the 2024 ruling. 'And yet that is exactly what Defendants do here.' Timothy Zick, a constitutional law professor at William & Mary Law School, said the executive orders targeting private entities or individuals 'have relied heavily on pressure, intimidation, and the threat of adverse action to punish or suppress speakers' views and discourage others from engaging with regulated targets.' 'The unanimous holding in Vullo is tailor-made for litigants seeking to push back against the administration's coercive strategy,' Zick added. That notion was not lost on lawyers representing Harvard and faculty at Columbia University in several cases challenging Trump's attacks on the elite schools, including one brought by Harvard challenging Trump's efforts to ban the school from hosting international students. A federal judge has so far halted those efforts. In a separate case brought by Harvard over the administration's decision to freeze billions of dollars in federal funding for the nation's oldest university, the school's attorneys on Monday told a judge that Trump's decision to target it because of 'alleged antisemitism and ideological bias at Harvard' clearly ran afoul of the high court's decision last year. 'Although any governmental retaliation based on protected speech is an affront to the First Amendment, the retaliation here was especially unconstitutional because it was based on Harvard's 'particular views' – the balance of speech on its campus and its refusal to accede to the Government's unlawful demands,' the attorneys wrote.
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