Mississippi Teachers Score $2K Raise After Cuts in Budget Deal

JACKSON, Miss. — After heated negotiations, Mississippi's House and Senate agreed on a $2,000 pay raise for K-12 teachers, a sharp reduction from the House's $5,000 proposal and the Senate's phased $6,000 plan over three years. The final deal, part of House Bill 1935 for the Department of Education, also provides $2,000 raises for teacher assistants, school psychologists and occupational therapists, while special education teachers get $4,000 and school attendance officers receive $5,000. Senate Education Committee Chairman Sen. Dennis DeBar, R-Leakesville, said the total cost is $108 million for one year, avoiding deeper budget cuts or tax hikes.

The compromise came after federal Medicaid reductions under President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act forced lawmakers to scale back. Initially, the House unanimously passed a bill in February raising the minimum teacher salary from $41,500 to $46,500, with extra for special education. The Senate countered in March with House Bill 1395 amendments for $2,000 annual raises over three years—totaling $6,000 for teachers and $9,000 for special education—plus $2,000 one-time boosts for assistants, community college instructors and university professors, at $328.5 million over three years.

"It's just a one-year increase of $2,000," DeBar emphasized during the conference report, stressing prudence amid fiscal constraints. The state will also hire nine more school attendance officers—one per 4,000 students—at a $1 million cost, aiming to boost attendance in districts like those in Jackson Public Schools, where shortages have plagued classrooms. Raises exclude the state funding formula to prevent misuse, with penalties for non-compliant districts on assistant pay.

Mississippi teachers, facing national shortages, welcomed the raise but called for more. The current minimum salary of $41,500 lags regional peers, driving exits to states like Alabama and Tennessee. Lawmakers signal this as a first step, with DeBar noting no plans yet for multi-year phasing amid budget uncertainty.