AUSTIN — Texas teachers have been promised a pay raise this year. But it’s unclear how much they’ll get, for how long and even who will be eligible.

This week, Democrats announced a plan to give many school employees raises, while Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has proposed giving teachers an extra $5,000, a plan he says has "widespread support." Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen haven't publicly endorsed these across-the-board raises, however, instead backing incentive pay for "the best and brightest."

Everyone wants teachers to be better compensated, and leaders from both parties have pledged to work together to find a fix. But with so many competing plans, how much room is there for compromise?

Patrick's Senate bill will get its first debate Monday. After that, lawmakers have 90 days to figure it all out.

"Texans, regardless of political party, know that, aside from a parent, nothing is more important to a child's success than a teacher. That is why there is broad support for an across-the-board pay raise for teachers," Patrick told The Dallas Morning News on Friday. "Abbott has made raising teacher pay an emergency item and I am confident we will get Senate Bill 3 passed."

What's out there?

Three main teacher pay plans are currently on the table.

Patrick's proposal is the most straightforward. Senate Bill 3 would set aside about $3.7 billion in a fund that school districts would be required to use to hand out an across-the-board $5,000 pay raise next year. Only full-time, classroom teachers would be eligible. The bill, which Patrick has been promoting for weeks, now enjoys the support of a majority of senators from both parties.

Democrats in the House, meanwhile, want to give a smaller pay bump to a larger group of school employees including teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and other support staff. Their plan would also provide a stipend of $1,200 a year to cover health care costs and $500 for classroom supplies.

The governor hasn't openly supported either option. During his State of the State speech this month, Abbott made "teacher pay" an emergency item, fast tracking any bills on this issue. But he sidestepped any mention of Patrick's plan.

“Texas must recruit and retain the best and brightest teachers to educate our students,” Abbott said. “We must provide incentives to put effective teachers in the schools and classrooms where they are needed the most.”

Bonnen, too, has focused on incentives, saying he was "appreciative" of Patrick's proposal but thinks "we're a little better off giving our local school districts those dollars and the discretion with which to manage their own salaries and the pay of their teachers."

This incentive, or "merit pay," model comes straight from the report developed over the past year by the Texas Commission on Public School Finance. Written by a bipartisan group of politicians and education insiders, the commission's report backs teacher incentives like what's already in place in Dallas and does not push raises for all teachers.

The report already enjoys the support of some of the most influential Republicans. Problem is, there hasn’t yet been a bill filed to advance this plan, and every day without one allows momentum to grow for across-the-board raises.

"The challenge for the Legislature is how much money is there available to spend given what the commission recommended and what Lt. Gov. Patrick has asked for," said Todd Williams, founder and CEO of the Dallas nonprofit Commit Partnership. "That's where all the sausage-making occurs."

Can both be done?

"We're going to find out. It's all about political will," Williams said.

Who wants what?

Everyone supports giving teachers more money — in principle. But when it comes to the details, each plan has its supporters and, more often, detractors.

Merit pay has widespread support among conservatives. The Texas Public Policy Foundation, an influential conservative think tank, supports the model. And it’s the only one of the proposals that all three top Republicans — Abbott, Bonnen and Patrick — have backed.

These incentive proposals will be written into the massive school finance legislation House Republicans are expected to release soon. Rep. Dan Huberty, who sat on the commission and chairs the House Education Committee, has stressed his plan is the most thoroughly vetted of them all.

"I've spent the last 18 months working in a bipartisan way," the Houston Republican told The News last week. "Any of the plans that are out there don't change anything we've done in the last 18 months."

But teacher groups generally hate the idea of merit pay. Test scores and other student performance metrics are not accurate ways to grade a teacher’s worth, they argue. And even Patrick, who backs merit pay, thinks it should only be paired with an across-the-board raise. The two ideas don't contradict or compete with each other, he argues, and there's enough in the budget to fund both.

“This is not an either/or issue,” Patrick spokesman Alejandro Garcia said in a recent statement. “Raising the base pay for teachers is a critical and immediate first step that does not preclude the development of an incentive pay system at the local level.”

1 / 3Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, left, and Texas Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, right, applaud for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, center, as he gives his State of the State Address in the House Chamber, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019, in Austin.(Eric Gay / The Associated Press) 2 / 3Gov. Greg Abbott, from left, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen share a laugh before speaking at a news conference at the Governor's Mansion in Austin on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. The three men agreed to make school finance and property taxes top priorities in 2019.(Jay Janner / Austin American-Statesman) 3 / 3Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, center, talks with other lawmakers on the House floor Wednesday, April 19, 2017, in Austin. Huberty, chair of the House Public Education Committee, has lead a year-long effort to craft a school finance bill that will funnel more money into the education system.(Eric Gay / The Associated Press)

Teachers, meanwhile, support an across-the-board raise. But the districts that employ them don’t like when the state hands them cash and then tells them how to spend it. That decision should be made at the local level, they say.

And both teachers and administrators have concerns about the longevity of Patrick’s proposal.

“We’ll take this $5,000 across-the-board [raise], provided its a permanent pay raise, as a good first step,” said Clay Robison, spokesman for the Texas Classroom Teacher Association. “But we’d like to see them go even farther."

Strange bedfellows

The teacher pay conversation has created strange political bedfellows.

Patrick has found himself backing across-the-board raises, which have been panned by conservative groups that have supported him in the past.

"We don't have a specific position on the lieutenant governor's plan," Kara Belew, senior education policy adviser for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, told The News. But she added, "Taxpayer dollars spent giving wasteful raises based on archaic seniority-linked salary schedules is not a good use of taxpayer money.

“Across-the-board pay raises are wasteful.”

Meanwhile, many public education lobbyists who back Patrick’s proposal in principle are still wary. Teacher groups have tussled with the lieutenant governor in the past over his support for vouchers and charter schools, and last year, they vocally supported his opponent, who ran on a pro-education platform.

What’s more, Democrats also suddenly find themselves more in agreement with Patrick on education than is typical. But party leaders were not surprised, they said, because they’ve always backed teacher raises.

“This is not a new idea for us,” House Democratic Caucus chairman Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, said Thursday. “While I don’t know what the eventual outcome will be, I believe Democrats in the House and I believe many Republicans are sincere about wanting to compensate our teachers better.”

“I would say to teachers, also, keep the pressure on the Legislature. Make your voices heard,” he added. “Stay positive.”

Staff Writer Eva-Marie Ayala in Dallas contributed to this report.