Texas must invest in teacher benefits | Opinion
Retired teacher Richard Cronshey of San Marcos watched from the second floor of the rotunda during the Texas Public Education Rally in 2019 at the Texas capitol in Austin. Teachers pushed for school finance reform and pay raises.It is time for the Texas Legislature to invest in our retired teachers and educators by providing new funding for a substantial, meaningful cost-of-living adjustment during the upcoming legislative session.
Retired Texas teachers have not received a cost-of-living adjustment since 2004, meaning they have lost 38% of the value of their benefits to inflation over these 18 years. In 2019 and 2021, the Texas Legislature provided a 13th monthly check to retirees, but these payments were not nearly enough to make up for the loss of benefits over the past two decades.
I know many retired teachers and public-school employees, now on a fixed income, who have seen their health insurance costs go up hundreds of dollars, sometimes thousands, over the past several years. I have heard countless stories from retirees in my community who are struggling to make ends meet. These teachers, who have dedicated their lives to public service, are increasingly forced to choose between paying their mortgage, buying groceries or paying for their lifesaving medications.
Our state surplus provides an exceptional opportunity for the Texas Legislature to hold up its promise to our school employees. We can make additional investments in the Teacher Retirement System to ensure that working in the Texas education system continues to be a financially viable career path for Texans and not a lifetime vow of poverty. Right now, I worry that it is not.
Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, is a member of the Texas House of Representatives. He wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.
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