It comes as Texas public schools have been struggling with budget deficits. Gov. Greg Abbott made teacher pay raises an emergency item this session.

The legislation includes new pots of money for teacher raises and other school costs like insurance and transportation. It now heads to the House, where leaders say it will pass.

The Texas Senate unanimously passed House Bill 2, allocating $8.5 billion in new funding for public schools over the next two years. This amount is $500 million more than the previous agreement. The bill received bipartisan support and now moves to the Texas House,