ANOTHER GOOD DAY! Today, House Education Chair Richard Bennett offered an amendment to HB 1365 that provides a $3,000 pay raise for assistant teachers, bringing their minimum salary to $20,000. The amended bill passed on a 114-3 vote and now will go to the Senate for consideration.
Representatives also responded to concerns about HB 1373, the bill that diminished instructional time by prohibiting regular classroom instruction while some students were released from school for religious instruction. HB 1373 was amended to:
• make it optional for school districts to adopt a policy allowing excused absences for weekly religious or moral instruction
• clarify that regular classroom instruction will proceed for students who do not elect to participate in the off-campus religious activities
The bill passed the House as amended.
For the next week, the House and Senate will continue taking floor votes on legislation that passed out of committee. We are watching closely for amendments that would burden educators with unnecessary paperwork and bureaucratic hoop-jumping or subject them to frivolous lawsuits.
Please keep reaching out to your legislators, Speaker Gunn, and Lt. Gov. Hosemann with this message:
1. Fully fund public schools
2. Keep public funds in PUBLIC schools
3. Let teachers teach: VOTE NO ON ANTI-TEACHER LANGUAGE
Find contact information for legislators who represent your school district.
Capitol Switchboard: 601.359.3770
Speaker Philip Gunn: 601.359.3300
Lt. Gov. Hosemann: 601.359.3200
You can check the status of all the bills we are following on our bill tracker web page.
Thank you for taking the time to speak up for our children. The relationships you have developed with your lawmakers are making a tremendous difference, and together, we’ve got this!
