The Senate Education Committee will hold a hearing on teacher compensation tomorrow, Wednesday, September 15, at 10:15 a.m.
You may attend the meeting in person in Room 216 of the State Capitol. A livestream of the hearing will be available to watch real time, or you can watch the recording later at your convenience.
The committee will hear from a number of experts on teacher compensation in Mississippi and across the nation as they grapple with the best way to make our state’s teacher salaries competitive among Southeastern states. Teacher pay is low in many states, but Mississippi’s average salary is the very lowest in the nation. We lag even our neighbors by a considerable margin, causing teachers in border counties to drive across the state line for more reasonable pay.
Many thanks to all the education supporters who submitted written comments to the committee, and a special thank-you to committee assistant Kristi Ishee for receiving and compiling all of those remarks. That was a big job!
And our sincere thanks to Senate Education Chairman Dennis DeBar for his commitment to improving teacher pay. Abysmal teacher salaries make it extremely difficult for school districts to recruit and retain high quality teachers. Mississippi’s teacher shortage threatens to diminish the quality of education provided our children. Teacher pay is one of the most critical issues affecting our teachers, our children, and our state. Hats off to the Senate Education Committee for taking it on!
Tune in for tomorrow’s teacher compensation hearing if you can, and we’ll be sure to keep you posted. Together, we’ve got this!
