Mississippi lawmakers reached an agreement on a $2,000 across-the-board pay raise for K-12 public school teachers, with a conference report expected Friday, Magnolia Tribune reported.
The deal also includes an extra $2,000 for special education teachers, speech therapists, school psychologists and assistant teachers, Rep. Rob Roberson, R., chairman of the House Education Committee, told Magnolia Tribune.
Roberson said the raises will be implemented “all at once,” rather than in increments the Senate had proposed earlier. The Senate had at one point proposed $2,000 a year for three years totaling $6,000, and the House initially proposed a $5,000 raise, Magnolia Tribune reported.
Lawmakers scaled back larger proposals after reviewing the state budget. “The state budget is tight,” Roberson told Magnolia Tribune, and Sen. Dennis DeBar, R., chairman of the Senate Education Committee, also said the tight budget would influence the final decision. Magnolia Tribune reported that Medicaid is seeking nearly $400 million in increased funding this year.
The conference report reportedly includes a $5,000 raise for school attendance officers and funding for nine new officers. Roberson told Magnolia Tribune the officers will be required to oversee the attendance of at least 4,000 students and said, “We’ve got to make sure that these kids are in school.” Both chambers plan to gavel back Sunday at 2 p.m. to adopt conference bills and finalize the state budget as sine die nears. Magnolia Tribune noted the last teacher increase came in 2022, when lawmakers raised pay by $5,100, and estimated each $1,000 increase costs roughly $50 million to state taxpayers.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
