It is ridiculous to try to pass a bill to give teachers a raise if you don't have the money.

They can say that we tried to do something to help you out, but because the money wasn't there we couldn't. A lot of Republican voters also think that teachers are paid too much anyway so there is only a limited amount of empathy for them.

of the state. I couldn't even tell you how long it has been since state employees have gotten a raise. What is irksome about education in this state is the fact that they don't make the best use of the funds that they get. One Legislator tried to get a bill up for vote that would have addressed Administrative Expenses but it did not go very far. You could put the entire state budget into education and they would always scream that it is not enough. And they would never be fiscally prudent.

Even the teacher retirement system is in worse shape than the state employee retirement system. From time to time the legislature toys with the idea of merging the two systems and that idea does not go over well with the state employees. I think that the only thing that saves the state employee retirement system is the fact that the Legislature's retirement are part of the state employee system. And the retirement drawn by legilsators is a whole other issue. Their retirement is very cushy.

I was a state employee and a region president in the public employee's association so I'm fully aware of how employees are thought of as second class citizens. Living in Austin grew to be too expensive for me and I eventually had to leave employment with the state to go into the private sector. When I did so my pay jumped from $35K to $45K and I saw fairly regular raises for several years so it was definitely the right move.

Texas also has a teacher retirement system that severely underfunded. I also saw that no matter how much money was dumped into education that there was only minimal improvement in student performance. I don't blame the teachers though because they get so little support from administrators and the community.

In Texas the legislators retirement package is based upon the amount paid for judges. They are exceedingly willing to fund the salaries of judges because they know that in turn they are also increasing their own retirement packages. I believe that it only takes 12 years to become eligible for retirement as a legislator and they also receive the standard health insurance package that other state employees receive so it is a pretty good deal overall.