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Will Texas governor’s six-figure salary plan for teachers happen?

Gov. Abbott said Monday he wants to set up a compensation plan to help the "very best" teachers earn six-figure salaries. How likely is it that it'll happen?

HOUSTON — It's the story that's had a lot of people talking the last 24 hours: Governor Greg Abbott says he wants the state's best teachers to earn a six-figure salary. So, how likely is it to happen?

The governor says this plan is about attracting and keeping the best of the state’s 350,000 or so teachers in the classroom.

Many people across the political spectrum agree something should be done, but what and how aren’t as clear.

The Austin High School campus Victor Trevino III used to walk as a student is now where he teaches his Southeast Houston neighborhood’s next generation.

“There’s a lot of great memories here,” said Treviño. “There’s still some of my teachers that teach with me.”

It’s a career the 12th year Austin High School government and economics teacher says he loves, but one that he says can be tough financially on his colleagues with families, rising housing costs, and out-of-pocket expenses.

“I talk to all of my friends about it that are teachers, and most of them have second jobs,” said Treviño.

During an education roundtable discussion on Monday in New Braunfels, Governor Greg Abbott offered a possible solution to teachers and administrators.

“We want to structure a compensation plan that will put the very best educators on a pathway to earning a six-figure salary,” said Gov. Abbott.

How those districts would decide which teachers get the higher paychecks is still up in the air. Governor Abbott says there’d be no need for a tax increase because existing state money would pay for the increases.

KHOU looked at salary schedules for the 2018-19 school year posted on the websites of Houston ISD, Pearland ISD, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, Fort Bend ISD, and Katy ISD. They show many local teachers’ salaries start in the low to mid $50,000 range and can climb north of $70,000 after decades on the job, with stipends for advanced degrees and special skills.

“Because it’s so light on details, I welcome anything that talks about increasing teachers’ pay,” said Treviño, on Gov. Abbott’s proposal.

Many people commenting on the original story posted to KHOU’s Facebook page, including current and former teachers, support a raise. Several pointed out the hours of extra work teachers do off campus.

However, a few questioned the need for higher salaries, especially at lower-performing campuses, and some wondered how the higher-paid teachers would be picked under Gov. Abbott’s proposal.

“This is a kind of replay of 2017,” said Bob Stein, a Rice University political science professor and KHOU’s political analyst. “(Gov. Abbott) did the same thing. He said teachers should get a $1,000 across-the-board pay raise. Of course, that was a classic unfunded mandate.”

Stein says in a state that now covers well below half of the public education cost, the real question is whether its lawmakers will pay attention.

“I’m totally sympathetic,” said Stein. “I think everyone is, but where’s the money gonna come from?”

Stein says because he believes Gov. Abbott’s re-election campaign is probably the most secure statewide race this November, he’s not sure about the timing of the announcement.

On Tuesday, the Democratic nominee for Governor, former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, released the following statement:

“Empty campaign promises are made all too often this close to Election Day, but Governor Abbott has reached a new low by making them to the very teachers whose resources have been undermined during his tenure. Our teachers deserve higher pay, and not at the expense of homeowners, but by cutting loopholes for billionaires and special interests that Governor Abbott relies on as his donors. Governor Abbott knows that the state alone is not capable of providing salary increases at the levels he is suggesting, and by punting action to the state legislature, he is working to cover the implausibility of his plan until long after voters have gone to the polls. Let me be clear, I support increasing teachers salaries. Our educators have been undervalued long enough but we must enact policy that elevates all teachers, not just a select few. Greg Abbott can’t pull the purse strings in the legislature and this is nothing more than a campaign ploy and hollow promise to our educators.”

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