By Kayleigh Skinner

Mississippi Today

Will Mississippi teachers see a pay raise this year?

Now that the deadline to introduce general legislation has passed, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have put forth more than a dozen pay-raise bills.

Gov. Phil Bryant has already endorsed the prospect. At his final State of the State address earlier this month, he told legislators: “Send me a bill to authorize a pay raise for these most critical guardians of Mississippi’s future, and I will sign it.”

This year, a first-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree earns $34,390, although school districts can supplement salaries with their own funds. Teachers in Mississippi are paid according to a salary schedule based on years of experience and education. The minimum salary for assistant teachers is $12,500.

In 2014 Bryant signed a bill into law that gave teachers a $2,500 pay raise and cost the state about $100 million in total. Bryant also signed a separate measure that financially rewards teachers in districts that score an A or B on the state’s grading scale or improves a letter grade.

This year, several bills are currently pending in the Legislature, filed by Democrats and Republicans. A few of those are:

• ● SB 2227 – Increase teacher salaries by $2,500 beginning in 2019-20 school year.
• ● HB 267 – Increase teacher salaries by $4,000 total. This amount would be phased in over a four year period with $1,000 added each year.
• ● HB 268 – Align teacher salaries with the Southeastern average over a five-year period according to the Southern Regional Education Board. In this bill, a brand new teacher with just a bachelor’s degree would earn $36,634.
• ● HB 651 – Teachers would receive a $2,000 pay increase phased in over four years with $500 each year.
• ● HB 652 – Assistant teachers’ salaries would be increased to a minimum of $15,000 a year.
• ● HB 647 – Would implement a $2,000 teacher pay raise over a two-year period.
• ● HB 811 – This bill would increase teacher salaries over a five-year period to align with the Southeastern average according to the Southern Regional Education Board.