The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) reports that, for the third year in a row, the Mississippi Legislature has fully funded the Mississippi Student Funding Formula (MSFF). Included in the 2026-2027 school district allocations is a $2,000 pay raise for teachers and assistant teachers. The additional one-time $2,000 salary supplement for special education teachers is not reflected in the allocations spreadsheet provided by the MDE, as the Department awaits clarification from legislative leaders about which teachers are eligible for that supplement. See your school district’s funding allocation here.
When the MSFF was adopted in the 2024 Legislative Session, the new funding law increased the proportion of school district budgets that must come from local taxes in school districts with a strong tax base. In some cases, that meant that school districts would receive less from the state than they had the year prior, despite a healthy increase in formula funding statewide. So the Legislature included in the law a three-year hold harmless provision to give school districts time to adjust to the increased local contribution requirement. Because FY2027 (the 2026-2027 school year) is the final year of the hold harmless provision, a few school districts could see a decrease in funding in the 2027-2028 school year.
Congratulations are due once again to Mississippi’s incredible public school educators and students, who have catapulted our state to a ranking of 16th in the nation in public education for the second year in a row by the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT Data Book. It is notable that this impressive ranking in education is despite Mississippi’s overall KIDS COUNT ranking of dead last in child well-being, underscoring the truly remarkable work being done by our public school teachers.
Please remember to thank your legislators for being faithful to their commitment to fully fund the new school funding formula and for making an effort toward better teacher pay. We will need to come through with a much more significant pay raise in the next legislative session to begin to address the teacher shortage crisis that is threatening the nationally-acclaimed student achievement for which Mississippi’s public school teachers and students have been recognized. Our children deserve great teachers, and our wonderful teachers deserve a professional salary. Thank goodness they have you in their corner! Together, we’ve got this.
