The teacher pay raise bill, SB 2001, passed the Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously this afternoon and is now on its way to the floor of the full Senate for a vote. The bill gives certified teachers with three or more years’ experience a $1,000 pay increase and provides teachers with two years of experience and less a $37,000 starting salary. Assistant teachers will see their salaries improve from $14,000 to $15,000 (yes, assistant teachers are dreadfully underpaid). All increases are effective July 1, 2021.
One of The Parents’ Campaign’s legislative priorities has been for the Legislature to devise a plan to increase Mississippi teacher salaries to the Southeastern average. Sen. Angela Turner-Ford raised that issue in the Senate Appropriations Committee meeting today. Chairman DeBar assured her that he intends to convene a group this summer to study all issues surrounding teacher pay and develop a plan to increase teacher salaries, better Mississippi’s ranking among Southeastern states, and improve teacher retention.
Please thank the Senate Education and Appropriations Committees for making teacher pay an early priority of the 2021 Legislative Session.
Don’t forget to bookmark our bill tracker so you can follow key education bills throughout the session – more are coming. Together, we’ve got this!
