Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation providing $8.5 billion in funding for public education. Nearly half of that new funding will go towards teacher pay raises. The bill also provides funds to give support staff raises,

Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill providing $8.5 billion in new funding for Texas public schools, offering relief to districts for teacher and support staff pay, special education, educator preparation,

While the legislation does not give schools as much spending flexibility as they had hoped for, it makes targeted investments in areas lawmakers believe will leave the Texas’ public education system better off.