Texas Approves $8.5B Education Funding, Judge Pay Raise

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is set to sign an $8.5 billion public education funding bill into law, marking the largest one-time investment in recent memory for the state's public schools. The legislation includes $4 billion specifically aimed at increasing teacher pay, along with funding for staff salaries, special education, early childhood learning, and campus safety. The bill, which will largely take effect in September 2025, aims to help with teacher recruitment and retention, although advocates note it does not fully address inflation-driven costs or all financial challenges facing schools. In a separate legislative action, Texas lawmakers approved a judicial pay raise through Senate Bill 293, increasing state district judges' starting salaries from $140,000 to $175,000 and consequently raising lawmakers' maximum annual pensions. This measure decouples future judicial salary increases from legislative pension hikes, with pension reviews now scheduled every five years beginning in 2030. The judicial pay raise was a compromise to address Texas's low judicial salaries while balancing concerns about pension increases.