Sign up for The BriefMany of the students in Mariela Ehlers’ classroom spoke primarily Spanish at home. As a bilingual teacher at Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District, it was her job to teach them both English and Spanish.
There are over 1 million English learners in Texas, according to the Texas Education Agency, and Hispanics make up more than half of the state’s student population. In 2019, Republican lawmakers mandated raises for teachers in an $11.6 billion overhaul of public school finance. The bill also included a merit raise system aimed to help rural and high-need school districts attract talent. In rare cases, the program rewards Texas’ highest-rated educators with hefty pay raises that could balloon to a six-figure salary.Charles Butt Foundation poll
In Waco, the school district increased base pay to over $50,000 last summer, and in Killeen, the district increased base pay to about $52,000. To become a bilingual teacher, a person must take two exams and one of them is a five-hour-long Spanish proficiency exam.
How many students are in the country unlawfully? If we were able to remove them, it would reduce the strain on the districts.