Gov. Reeves has signed HB 530, the teacher pay raise bill, which makes it official! The salaries of certified teachers will increase by an average of $5,140 and teacher assistants will get a $2,000 pay raise, effective July 1. This is well-deserved good news for our hard-working teachers and assistants! Unfortunately, that’s all the good news …
This morning, we have discovered vouchers hidden in a conference report for an unrelated bill. Worse, the changes in statute are NOT underlined, something that is required to alert legislators to changes in law that are being proposed. HB 1685, a pregnancy resources bill, includes a $2-million increase in an already large tax credit/voucher program, the true …
Vouchers Hidden in Conference Report – Need Calls! Read More »
We are almost to the finish line, but we need your help on two critical issues to protect our public schools and our big win on teacher pay: 1. VOUCHERS – Privatizers are pushing to expand a voucher provision that was sneaked into a foster care bill last year. HB 1687 would allow millions of dollars in tax …
Progress! This afternoon, Senate Education Chairman Dennis DeBar announced a conference committee meeting on HB 530, the teacher pay raise bill, in Room 216 of the Capitol at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. That is good news! You can watch the livestream here. In other sort-of-good news, you came very, very close to killing HB 1687, the voucher bill …
The Senate Finance Committee passed amended versions of two dangerous bills that will go to the full Senate for floor votes tomorrow. HB 531, the income tax cut bill, would slash $439-million from the state budget every year when fully phased in. HB 1687 would allow millions of dollars in tax credits for donations to …
Today, the House Education Committee passed two dangerous bills. We need your help to defeat them. HB 795 is a voucher bill that uses state funds for non-public school students to attend a virtual school with no accountability. This is what the Legislature banned in 2020 when tightening up the ESA voucher statute in response to numerous abuses …
Senate Bill 2675, the ESA voucher bill, passed the Senate today on a vote of 37 to 13. The bill will now go to the House. Please ask your representative to VOTE NO on 2675. Find contact information for all of the House members who represent your districts. Share the same message with Speaker Philip Gunn Capitol: …
Dangerous voucher bill passes Senate; need calls to reps! Read More »
The House and Senate adjourned the 2019 Legislative Session today, but not before the leadership of both chambers cheated their way to an increased appropriation for private school vouchers and proudly acknowledged doing so. Late yesterday afternoon, Lt. Gov. Reeves sneaked $2-million in additional voucher funds into an unrelated agency conference report (SB 3049), presenting it for a …
We had been told that Lt. Governor Reeves was intent on getting an increase in voucher funding approved, despite strong objections in both chambers. Late this afternoon, it was discovered that Senate conferees had sneaked $2-million in additional voucher funds into a unrelated agency conference report in SB 3049. The voucher language was not included …
UNBELIEVABLE! Unethical, Last-minute Voucher Debacle Read More »
From Nancy Loome, executive director: I got word last night that the Senate leadership plans to insert private school voucher language into the teacher pay raise bill. Inserting language so offensive to public school teachers could be seen as an attempt to kill the pay raise bill. It also might explain Lt. Governor Reeves’ comment last …
