Last school year, the average teacher in Texas made thousands of dollars less than teachers in other states. A nearly $5 billion bill filed Tuesday in the Legislature seeks to provide across-the-board raises and put more money toward bonuses.

Sen. Brandon Creighton filed a bill Tuesday aimed at increasing pay for Texas teachers. More experienced teachers could get a bump of up to $10,000.

The proposal comes as public school teachers in Texas are leaving the profession in droves and many districts are trying to make up budget shortfalls.

Read more For the first time since Gov. Greg Abbott declared raising teacher pay an emergency item, the Senate laid out exactly what new teacher pay guidelines would look like.

A Texas Senate committee gave unanimous approval Thursday to a bill giving across-the-board pay raises to public school teachers, the first step forward for a top goal of lawmakers in both political parties.

Among a litany of education-related bills filed this year, elected officials in the state have made raising teacher pay a priority for the legislative session.