Senate Bill 3, a bill that would give classroom teachers across the state of Texas a $5,000 raise was unanimously approved by the Texas Senate Committee on Finance on Monday.  

“The goal of Senate Bill 3 is to provide a well-deserved, across-the-board, permanent $5,000 pay raise for every classroom teacher in Texas,” Flower Mound Republican Jane Nelson said in an article with Dallas Morning News. “I can’t promise for every future Legislature. But I’ll say this, they’re going to have to undo it.

The bill hones in on the education system in Texas with the hope it will help academic programs throughout the state.

“Senate Bill 3 deserves high praise for putting a legislative focus on our teachers,” member of the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation Kara Belew said in an article with Dallas Morning News. “ [The] money must be spent on the most effective programs.”

The pay raise is seen as a reward to art teacher Pernie Fallon, who says teachers are deserving of more recognition for their efforts and hard work.

“I’m be happy about it; I think it’s deserved by most teachers, the work that teachers do is usually unrecognized and it also goes without thanks or gratitude,” Fallon said. “Teachers spend a lot more time at their job than what they’re paid for and it would just be an affirmation of what they’re doing is the right thing.”