Texas Republicans love a bill package they can give a cute nickname. This session, it was the “Texas Two Step,” a pair of education funding bills, one filed in both of the legislative chambers. The more notorious of the two, Senate Bill 2, created a private school voucher system in Texas , controversially cutting funding for public education. The second, House Bill 2, which was signed into law Wednesday, has been marketed as a “historic” pay raise for public teachers. Still, teachers’ associations say the new program is flawed and is only a small step in recovering the state’s education system.

House Bill 2, filed by state Rep. Brad Buckley, a strong advocate for school vouchers, is a lengthy bill that designates $8.5 billion to public education to specifically fund a variety of press

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