Mississippi teacher pay raise plan inches forward in Senate

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Senate is pushing forward with a plan to increase some of the lowest teacher salaries in the United States.

Senators unanimously passed a bill Thursday to give most Mississippi teachers and teachers’ assistants a $1,000 pay raise during the year that begins July 1. Newer teachers would receive $1,100 in an effort to make the jobs more attractive.

The proposal is in House Bill 852. Although the bill started in the House, the Senate removed all the House language and replaced that with its own plan.

The bill will return to the House, which could either accept the new version or seek final negotiations with the Senate.

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has said he will sign any teacher pay raise bill that legislators send him this year.

Mississippi has long had some of the lowest teacher salaries in the nation. According to the Southern Regional Education Board, the average teacher salary in the U.S. for 2018-19 was $62,304. For Mississippi, the average was $45,105.