The House of Representatives has passed unanimously a $5,000 across-the-board teacher pay raise and an additional $3,000 increase for special education teachers who are teaching in the special education field in a public school. See the vote. Included in that bill (HB 1126) are numerous provisions unrelated to teacher salaries, provisions we believe should be dealt with in separate legislation. A pay raise for assistant teachers is not in the bill currently. See the description of the bill provided to committee members. HB 1126 now will go to the Senate.
The Senate passed SB 2242, the Mississippi Math Act, which provides a pilot program to identify and provide interventions for students struggling in math and supports for math teachers in grades K-5. That bill now will go to the House.
These bills still await House votes:
• HB 1234 – School accountability dashboard – Creates new accountability “dashboards” on which public schools would be required to publish each month detailed financial and academic data (data that already is available to the public), adding new layers of accountability for public schools while publicly-funded private schools are explicitly protected from any public scrutiny or accountability. VOTE NO
• HB 1606 – Excellence for All Pilot Program – Attempts to mitigate the teacher shortage by improving teacher retention; directs MDE to provide a career ladder for teachers and provide additional supports and incentives in pilot districts. VOTE YES
• SB 2001 – Teacher pay raise – Provides for a $2,000 across-the-board salary increase for teachers and assistant teachers. AMEND (to increase to $5,000 minimum across-the-board raise for teachers) AND VOTE YES
• SB 2002 – Public school choice – Allows public schools to pick and choose out-of-district students to attend their schools; available only to students who can provide their own transportation to and from school. VOTE NO
• SB 2003 – Retirees return to classroom – Expands incentives for retirees to return to teaching while receiving PERS benefits. VOTE YES
This bill is awaiting a Senate vote:
• SB 2487 – Adolescent literacy initiative – Expands literacy support to schools and students in grades 4-8. This bill needs some clarifications and improvements but is a very good start toward ensuring children in middle grades get the reading interventions they need. AMEND (to allow further work) AND VOTE YES
Ask your senator to
VOTE YES:
• SB 2487 (expand literacy support to middle grades – amend to allow further work)
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann: 601.359.3200
Ask your representative to
VOTE NO:
• HB 1234 (increases accountability reporting for public schools)
• SB 2002 (public school choice)
VOTE YES:
• HB 1606 (teacher career ladder, addresses teacher shortage)
• SB 2001 (teacher & assistant teacher pay – amend to minimum $5,000 teacher pay raise)
• SB 2003 (improves retired teacher incentives to return to classroom)
House Speaker Jason White: 601.359.3300
Capitol Switchboard: 601.359.3770
Find contact information for legislators
You can follow the status updates for each of these bills on the Bill Tracker page of our website. If you would like to call all legislators who represent a portion of your school district, you can find their names and contact information here. Please urge others in your community to call, as well.
Remember to watch for your representative’s vote on HB 1234, the bill requiring an additional layer of monthly accountability reporting for public schools – information that already is available to the public. Remember that 61 House members voted to send private schools the same base cost funding that public schools get while explicitly protecting private schools from any public financial or academic accountability or public scrutiny at all. We’ll keep you posted.
We also continue to watch these bills of concern on which we have not yet taken a position:
- HB 1292 – The committee substitute requires that all school boards be elected, removing the ability of municipal school districts to have appointed school board members; requires that municipal school board elections be held at the time of either gubernatorial or presidential elections; makes provisions for the recall of an elected school board member by petition of 30% of the county electorate and with the governor’s approval of the petition. Numerous parents in municipal districts have reached out to us in the past to express opposition to changing their boards from appointed to elected, as many of their best school board members have been deeply committed, hard-working parents or business leaders who are willing to serve but unwilling to engage in a political campaign. The current version of the bill does not allow for staggered terms, which potentially would turn over the entire school board at once, an extremely dangerous proposal. The author has assured me he intends to amend the bill on the floor to create staggered terms, with 3 board members elected at one time and the remainder elected at another.
- HB 517 – The committee substitute as it passed the House Education Committee brings forward the charter school code sections for possible amendments. The bill as originally introduced reduced accountability for charter schools, provided for multiple authorizers (allowing those proposing to open new charter schools to “shop” for the most lenient authorizer), permitted virtual charter schools, and otherwise reduced accountability for charter schools (note: all but one of Mississippi’s existing charter schools currently are rated either D or F). We will continue to watch this bill for any amendments that expand or reduce accountability for charter schools.
Please make sure your legislators know where you stand on these important bills. Keep in mind that the qualifying deadline for the 2027 election is less than a year away. If your legislators are voting for bills that are hostile to public schools, please start looking now for candidates to replace them.
Meanwhile, we promise to keep you posted on how these bills progress and how your legislators vote. Together, we’ve got this!
