S.B. No. 26 is a legislative bill aimed at improving public education in Texas by enhancing the rights and compensation of public school educators. The bill introduces new teacher designations, such as "acknowledged" and "nationally board certified," and establishes a grant program to support local optional teacher designation systems. It mandates that school districts implement performance-based compensation plans and comprehensive evaluation systems for teachers, while also designating enhanced teacher incentive allotment schools that will receive increased funding based on specific criteria. Additionally, the bill provides classroom teachers with access to liability insurance, modifies salary deduction regulations for teacher service dues, expands prekindergarten enrollment eligibility for children of classroom teachers, and establishes a teacher retention allotment based on experience.

The bill also outlines new funding provisions for school districts, ensuring that those receiving an allotment in a previous school year are entitled to an additional allotment calculated at $7,000 multiplied by the result of dividing 5,000 by 14.5. For the 2025-2026 school year, districts must use these funds to increase classroom teacher salaries by at least the amount received per teacher, with a requirement to maintain these salary increases in subsequent years. Furthermore, the bill excludes this funding from being considered in determining a district's tier one revenue level and maintenance and operations revenue. It also includes provisions for the redesignation of teachers with prior designations and repeals certain sections of the Education Code. The bill will take effect immediately upon a two-thirds vote from both houses or on September 1, 2025, if such a vote is not achieved.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Education Code 21.3521, Education Code 22.001, Education Code 29.153, Education Code 48.112, Education Code 48.051 (Education Code 29, Education Code 21, Education Code 22, Education Code 48)