At the discretion of lawmakers, new bill could increase pay for Colorado educators

COLORADO (KRDO) -- Colorado teachers could soon see a pay raise thanks to a new bill signed by Governor Jared Polis.

Wednesday, Polis signed the Educator Pay Raise Fund bill. Senate Bill 172 creates the educator pay raise fund which will now help schools increase teacher salaries and help pay the hourly cost for other employees.

State Lawmakers say they hope this new effort to pay educators will help Colorado schools retain teachers.

However, those funds will not go directly to schools. Instead, it's up to state lawmakers to make those funds available for schools.

The bill states the fund "consists of money that the general assembly may appropriate or transfer to the fund." That means the funding is at the discretion of the General Assembly.

For more information on SB-172, click here.