The $7.8 billion school funding bill proposed by the Texas Senate and agreed to by the governor and House speaker is the largest infusion of new dollars into public education in the state’s history, said state Sen. Brandon Creighton, a Conroe Republican who authored the package, in a legislative hearing on Thursday.

The proposal would heavily invest in teacher pay and special education. It includes a modest $55 increase to schools' base per-student funding, significantly lower than what the House had sought.

The Texas House originally passed House Bill 2, a multibillion-dollar school funding package, in April. But the version of the legislation heard Thursday by a panel of Texas senators includes several significant changes from what the House approved.