Mississippi teacher pay raise signed into law

Wages for teachers in Mississippi will now be more competitive with surrounding states, surpassing both the regional and national averages. House Bill 530 was signed into law this week by Governor Tate Reeves after months of legislative debate. The law will increase the base salary for new teachers, and also increase wages for those with more experience in the profession. State Superintendent Carey Wright says this pay raise has been earned by educators.

“Mississippi is a national leader because our students made more progress on the National Assessment of Education Process than almost every other state in the nation. Teachers drove this achievement,” says Wright. “And now we are pressing forward to help our students emerge from this pandemic stronger than ever.”

Mississippi has a shortage of teachers, and the state has historically had one of the lowest teacher wages in the region. Kelly Riley, Executive Director of Mississippi Professional Educators, says the pay raise can help retain existing teachers, and recruit new hires out of the state’s teacher training programs.

“So we will hopefully be able to retain more of those students and encourage them to stay and teach in Mississippi, rather than crossing the state border and teaching in another state,” says Riley. “So it will be a better return on our investment.”

Advocates for teacher pay say in the future, they would like to see wages raised for all school employees and improve funding for schools.