Recognizing lawmakers for prioritizing public ed

You may have read Monday’s story about the Senate Finance Committee passing Senate Bill 3, a piece of legislation that would provide annual $5,000 pay raises for all full-time classroom teachers.

Even though the bill doesn’t meet everyone’s expectations, I am extremely appreciative that our senators and representatives recognize the great contributions that teachers have made to the lives of our students. SB3 is a positive sign that our state leaders are serious about addressing the needs in our public school system.

As the 86^th Texas Legislative Session moves forward, I am confident that our lawmakers will also find a way to reward the essential contributions that our campus leaders, librarians, counselors, diagnosticians and other professionals provide to the success of our school system. We are grateful to have thousands of operations support personnel and instructional aides in CFISD. These hard-working employees make sure our campuses are operational and our students succeed in the classroom.

I applaud our legislators from both sides of the aisle for uniting on an issue that impacts more than 90 percent of the school-aged children in Texas who attend public schools. Government works best when our leaders work together!

When you get a chance, thank our state leaders for taking this first step toward helping Texas public schools be the best that they can be. You can find out who represents you by entering your address on the Texas Legislature website.

~ Mark Henry, Ed.D.