A union-backed bill that would create a p for teacher pay raises advanced out of the Senate Education Committee Wednesday on a party-line vote, though not before lawmakers of both parties raised questions.
Republicans on the committee said that by also including hourly workers like bus drivers and school secretaries, the money in the fund would be stretched so thin it wouldn’t do much for teacher pay. And state Sen. Jeff Bridges, a Greenwood Village Democrat, asked whether the bill would inadvertently create incentives for local communities not to tax themselves.
The bill calls for at least $15 million a year to be set aside from state lands proceeds. Districts with low teacher salaries or hourly wages could apply for those funds to raise pay. Those districts would eventually be responsible for assuming the ongoing costs of the raises. The specific criteria that would be used to determine eligibility is still being discussed.
A few hours later, Democrats on the Senate State, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee rejected a different teacher pay bill that would have given out bonuses up to $12,000 to highly effective teachers who took jobs in schools with persistently low test scores. State Affairs is known as a “kill committee,” a place where bills die for largely partisan reasons.
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