Should Texas provide a $5000 pay raise for full-time classroom teachers?

I would suggest the move to increase teacher pay in Texas is the result of the national trend of teachers becoming more vocal and politically active in voicing their concerns over the conditions of the public school system in their respective states. Texas undoubtedly would like to head off problems and address the issue. Certainly, the growing population and the teacher shortage is driving some of the proposals under consideration.
When determining a fair wage, several factors come into play, so let's reframe the question and look at the components that make a salary competitive. The average classroom teacher in Texas earns $53,335, according to the Texas Education Agency. Depending on where the teacher lives, salaries vary by as much as $10,000. Teachers are under contract to work for a minimum of 187 days, which equates to $285 per day on average. (The average worker in the United States works 260 days each year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.)
Where a teacher lives in Texas is critical to understanding one component of salary equity. The Cost of Living Index for the State of Texas is 101.8, according to Sperling’s Best Places and other comparable sources. A cost of living index above 100 is above the national average. If a teacher lives in a larger urban area, their cost of living would be higher and their average disposable income possibly lower. How do the wages for educators in Texas compare with other states?
The regions with the five highest teacher salaries in the United States are also the five with the highest Cost of Living Indexes, and the reverse is also true. The NEA National Ranking Report for 2018 states that “when the effects of price inflation are taken into account, the average classroom teacher salary has decreased by 4.5 percent from 2009‒10 to 2018‒19.” The Comptroller of the Texas Governments reports inflation in Texas for the past ten years has been at about 2%, while the nation has an experienced a 1.89% inflation rate. Arguably, inflation takes a toll on all salaries, and in this regard, teachers are no better or worse off than other employees.
The NEA uses starting salaries to rank states. The average starting salary for Texas classroom teachers is $41,484 as compared with the national average of $39,249, placing Texas in the middle of the pack for average starting salaries. Salary is, of course, one part of the picture. A component of compensation which many employees don’t think about is the contributions to benefits like health insurance, retirement, paid leave, and others that are outside of earnings. That comparison requires a considerable amount of data which is not available in one place or format.
How do teachers rank when compared to other college graduates with four-year degrees? Korn and Ferry, one of the largest consulting companies in the world, reports that in 2018, college graduates earned an average of $50,390 with a four-year degree. However, educators had the lowest-paid starting salaries on average, with software and other engineers having the highest.
Should Texas provide a $5000 pay raise for full-time classroom teachers? For Texas to remain competitive with surrounding states that are actively recruiting teachers, they will have to match already-approved pay raises by other state legislatures. Teachers are fairly mobile, and moving to a different state is not unusual. From the standpoint of keeping experienced teachers and developing a pool of candidates to replace the teachers leaving for other jobs, retirement, and other reasons, a higher starting wage might encourage more candidates to stay in Texas. Texas is also experiencing a population increase that will further strain the resources in education. There is a significant teacher shortage, and a higher wage would certainly help to recruit and retain teachers.
Ultimately the decision will come down as a political decision. Is the investment in education in the form of salary without considering other factors such as working conditions or benefits enough to alleviate the teacher shortage? Only a person living in Texas can decide what is in the best interest of the children and residents of Texas.