Austin, Texas - Texans for Excellence in the Classroom applauds the Texas Senate for maintaining the teacher performance pay program, enacted in HB1 less than a year ago, as part of the Texas state budget.

The lack of pay differentiation among teachers, regardless of performance, is among the greatest deterrents for professionals considering careers in education, according to Sandy Kress of Texans for Excellence in the Classroom. In fact, fully 75 percent of Texas teachers (and even more voters) support higher pay for effective teachers, according to Kress.

"Texas' Senators clearly understand the importance of rewarding effective teachers," said Kress. "The Senators' vote to maintain our state's pay for performance program shows a commitment to rewarding effective teachers and paying even more to effective teachers who also take on assignments like mentoring or teaching in hard-to-staff schools. We look forward to working with the conference committee to ensure the integrity of Texas' fledging teacher pay for performance program."