Disappointing News on Teacher Pay

Mississippi Today is reporting that the House and Senate have come to an agreement on a one-time $2,000 pay raise for certified and assistant teachers, with an additional $2,000 (total $4,000) for special education teachers. While any pay raise is helpful, this is very disappointing news. A $2,000 pay raise is unlikely to stem the exodus of teachers from the classroom or to attract new teachers into the profession. For the moment, this increase will leave Mississippi teachers’ starting pay $4,700 behind that of neighboring states, and our average teacher pay overall about $3,000 behind that of our neighbors, though those states likely will continue passing their own raises, further widening the gap. Mississippi’s public school teachers – among the best in the country – deserve better.

The agreement reportedly also provides a $2,000 raise for occupational therapists and school psychologists, and a $5,000 increase for school attendance officers. 

House and Senate Education Chairmen Roberson and DeBar both pointed to the strain put on the state budget by a dramatic $390-million increase required to fund Medicaid as a primary cause of the lower-than-hoped-for pay raise. That eye-popping increase was triggered by HR 1, the federal legislation passed by Congress last summer, which shifted much of the burden for funding Medicaid to the states. That shift, which is costing Mississippi hundreds of millions of dollars, appears to have cost our teachers a decent pay raise. 

Both chambers have adjourned until Sunday at 2:00, when they are expected to take up the budget bills. In the meantime, you can reach out to legislators who have provided personal phone numbers. Those without personal numbers can be reached at the Capitol when they return on Sunday.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann: 601.359.3200

House Speaker Jason White: 601.359.3300

Capitol Switchboard: 601.359.3770

Find contact information for legislators

As of this writing, the conference report for SB 2103, the bill amended to include the teacher pay raise, is not yet available to view online. Monday is the deadline for final action on the public school appropriations bill. While the general bill (pay raise) final adoption deadline isn’t until Friday, funding in the appropriations bill must be sufficient to cover the raise. I promise to keep you updated as conference reports are posted online and we get additional information. Together, we’ve got this!