Texas Sen. Brandon Creighton said the Teacher Bill of Rights addressed teachers' top concerns—safety, validation from administrators, and compensation—but was blocked by unions in the House to prevent a Republican from passing it. Creighton was a guest on a recent episode of the Texas Talks Podcast.

“Teachers in Texas public schools are saying through their surveys that compensation is not their highest concern," said Creighton in a recent edition of the Texas Talks Podcast. “Safety is their highest concern. Second is validation from their administrators, and third is compensation. The Teacher Bill of Rights accomplished all three of those things, and with an across-the-board pay raise and bonus structures, we would have prioritized the best teachers in this state and put a value on them that would make it almost impossible for them to feel that Texas Republicans weren't standing strong for them.”

“Now, the teachers' unions got ahold of that bill in the House after I passed it out of the Senate, and they killed the bill because they couldn't let a Republican pass a bill for teachers that they, as quote-unquote teacher organizations, didn't enter the Capitol asking for those provisions or that kind of pay to start with, so they just wanted it to go to sleep," said Creighton. 

Creighton is a Texas state senator representing District 4, which includes parts of Montgomery, Harris, Chambers, Jefferson, and Galveston counties. Prior to his Senate role, he served as a state representative for District 16 and was elected chairman of the Texas House Republican Caucus.

Texas Talks podcast is hosted by Brad Swail. The weekly show is focused on public policy in the state of Texas, with insights from the people and organizations that influence it.

The podcast is available on Simple Cast and YouTube.