Abbott signs $8.5 billion education package, calls it largest teacher pay raise in Texas history

Governor Greg Abbott said he signed House Bill 2, an $8,500,000,000 education package and called it “the largest teacher pay raise in the history of Texas,” adding that teachers "will see it in their paychecks when they start the next school year."

The law, Abbott and the reporting announce, is aimed at two problems state officials say drive teacher turnover: low pay and classroom discipline. In an interview cited by a 6 News reporter, the package is described as addressing both issues while also restructuring special-education funding.

"House bill 2 addresses 2 critical issues driving teacher turnover, low pay and classroom discipline problems," the reporter said. On the special-education change, Abbott said: "What we're doing under the new bill, is to address the uniqueness of everybody's different challenges who have special needs in our schools. That way, we're we're better able to deliver what that child needs."

The bill moves away from across-the-board special-education funding toward an intensity-based approach, according to the interview, which officials say is intended to allocate resources based on the level of student need. The package also creates reading and math academies to support instruction; officials and Abbott said results should become visible in about one to two years.

Abbott said the administration will track teacher retention, with officials expecting to report results by the end of the next school year. "That will take a year or 2 for you to really see some results from," Abbott said of the academies and related changes.

Asked about the long-term impact, Abbott said his goal is to have Texas "ranked number 1 for education" and that people will look back to the 2025 session as the place that effort began.

Juliana Jackson of 6 News reported that "the $8,500,000,000 investment will start rolling out to school districts in the coming months," and said education leaders framed the bill as both a funding increase and a renewed commitment to long-term improvement. The transcript does not include legislative vote counts or further implementation details; rollout and district-level allocation timelines were described as forthcoming.