With full state coffers and bipartisan support, Texas teachers are hopeful they’ll get a raise this year

Teacher Melissa Perry reads to her fifth grade class at Jacob’s Well Elementary School in Wimberley on September 4, 2020. (Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune)

Laura Herrera’s salary has barely gone up in her 20 years of teaching — about $700 in all.

The San Antonio-area teacher takes home about $3,700 a month. About $1,400 goes to rent, and the rest is sometimes barely enough to pay the bills and stretch through the month. There have been times when she hasn’t been able to afford buying insulin to treat her diabetes.