Mississippi teacher pay raise bill moves forward in the Senate

The state Senate is moving forward with efforts to increase teacher salaries in Mississippi, which are currently the lowest in the country.

According to business.org, Mississippi teachers average the lowest salaries out of all other states. Coupled with a shortage of educators, there hasn’t been much of an incentive to fill the gaps needed in our education system.

On Thursday, Senators met and unanimously passed House Bill 852 which is aimed at giving teachers and assistants a $1,000 pay raise beginning in July.

The Senate changed the language of the original bill, which was initially written by the House. The Senate will now have to send the revised bill back to the House for approval on the language changes. From there, either the House will approve it, or further revise it and negotiate with the Senate to reach a consensus that will pass both chambers.

Governor Reeves has committed to signing any bill favoring teacher pay that reaches his desk this year.

H.B. 852 resembled Senate Bill, S.B. 2001 in that they both targeted a $1,000 pay raise for teachers. The House Bill, however, added a higher minimum pay rate for assistant teachers.