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Texas Superintendent calls out legislature for failed teacher pay increases

Daryl Stuard has been the Superintendent for Bremond ISD for 13 years. He said the legislature needs to increase salaries across the board to retain educators.

BREMOND, Texas — In the final week of May, the 88th Texas State Legislature failed to pass House Bill 100.

The legislation, if passed, would increase "compensation" for teachers and establish education savings accounts for students. Both of which, at the time of the start of the legislative session, appeared like priorities for the legislative body.

However, both chambers have approached pitfalls with certain platforms among the number of topics state leaders have to look into. Daryl Stuard, the Superintendent for Bremond ISD, said that the legislature's efforts are nothing more than "smoke and mirrors."

"I feel like they just try to propose things to make it look like they care about education, but they really don't care whether it passes or not. It's all just smoke in mirrors to try to get votes," said Stuard.

Stuard has served as the Superintendent of the district for 13 years after teaching subjects like math, history, and physical education. His biggest critique of the legislature comes down to the inability to bolster teacher salaries, which has been one of many factors behind the exodus of educators from the public school sector.

"If they want more people to get into the profession, they're going to have to make record-breaking changes to the pay system," said Stuard.

Stuard claims that districts across the Brazos Valley could soon see issues with funding from different entities. The longtime educator claimed that COVID funds that were previously provided by the federal government are expected to be halted at a certain time. He also shared that state funds could affect districts if students gain access to vouchers and attendance numbers drop.

While districts across Texas experience challenges during the calendar year, Stuard maintains that his teachers are what make Bremond ISD such an astounding school district.

"I don't have to do much to make this a good place to work, the teachers do it all…. When they're here, they don't just work eight to three and go home. Some of them are here from seven to six, seven o'clock at night," said Stuard.

Governor Abbott claimed at the beginning of the legislative session that if House Bill 100 were to fail, it would be picked back up in a special session. However, the Governor has yet to make additional comment since the bill's failure.

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