Dallas, Texas – Texas lawmakers have agreed to an unprecedented amount of money for the state’s education and workforce systems. This is a major milestone for children, teachers, and families across the Lone Star State. Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 2 into law on June 4. This made a record-breaking commitment of $8.5 billion to public schools, which is the biggest single increase in school financing in Texas history.
House Public Education Chairman Brad Buckley wrote the landmark law, which was pushed through by a strong agreement among lawmakers to meet the state’s pressing educational needs. Many districts were having trouble with their budgets because of rising costs and the termination of pandemic relief funds. In North Texas alone, the deficits were around $400 million. After months of negotiation, lawmakers raised the original plan for HB 2 from $5 billion to $8.5 billion.
About $4.2 billion, or over half of the money, will go directly to raising teachers’ salaries. The plan indicates that most teachers will get raises depending on how long they have been teaching. However, districts like Dallas ISD that pay based on performance will use their own methods to decide who gets raises.
The rest of the money goes to a number of important things, such as $1.3 billion for basic school operations, $677 million for early childhood education, $153 million for vocational and technical programs, and $135 million for preparing teachers. Extra money goes to special education ($850 million) and making schools safer ($430 million).
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Lawmakers also focused on higher education and programs that help people find jobs, in addition to K–12 education. The Texas Research Incentive Program has a backlog of around $400 million that will be cleared. This will free up matching funds for university research.
HB 42 will also raise the budget for campus facilities by 50%, giving them more money. If voters pass a proposed constitutional amendment in November 2025, it would create a $850 million endowment to assist Texas State Technical College campuses throughout the state.
Lawmakers didn’t just focus on education; they also gave $100 million to Texas’ child care subsidy program. This money will help about 10,000 more children over the next two years, which should help reduce the state’s long waitlist.
This significant investment will help Texas improve its education system and workforce pipeline, making the state more ready and competitive in the future.
