Texas Senate approves across-the-board pay raises for teachers ... and more news

A unanimous Texas Senate approved a bill Wednesday to give across-the-board pay raises for state teachers. Senators voted 31-0 for Senate Bill 26, sending to the Texas House legislation to give $10,000 a year raises to educators who have five or more years of experience and work in districts with fewer than 5,000 students. Those in larger districts with at least five years in the classroom would get a $5,500 raise, while those with three years of experience would be paid $2,500 a year more. In other news, Neiman Marcus’ downtown store is still slated to close at the end of March, even after Dallas city and business leaders worked to resolve a landlord dispute; U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., says her congressional task force on declassifying government secrets hopes to interview doctors who were at the Dallas hospital where President John F. Kennedy was taken after being fatally shot; And Texas Republicans’ demand for a school voucher-style program appears poised to clear a major hurdle as a slim majority of House members have signaled their support. Gov. Greg Abbott celebrated Wednesday that 75 Republican representatives signed on as co-authors to House Bill 3, priority legislation to create education savings accounts, which would give families access to public dollars to pay for private school tuition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices