Last Tuesday was a deadline day when bills from opposite chambers had to be passed out of committee by 8 p.m. or they would die for the session.
As the day drew into late afternoon, legislators became acutely aware that no teacher pay raise bill had been passed in their chambers’ appropriate committees. Finally, the Senate Education and Appropriations Committees voted to pass HB 530, and inserted the Senate’s SB 2114 language into it instead of ours.
As the son and husband of educators, I have always placed public education at the top of my agenda. And, judging by the many messages and calls received by us on that day, it is at the top of others’ agendas as well.
It has been well reported that Mississippi’s public school educators are paid below the Southeastern average and that we are 3,000 certified teachers short from those who taught here just a few years ago. It is rightfully thought that paying these important stalwarts of our society well should be a no-brainer. Yet, year after year, it seems, too little is done to address the issue.
This year, we had determined to do differently, and both the House and Senate had proposed record-setting pay increases for educators. The House also included teacher assistants in their proposal.
House Bill 530 was sent back to the House and we invited conference. Now, three conferees from each chamber will meet, iron out differences and, hopefully, come back with the kind of pay raises our public school educators deserve.
If I can be of assistance to you, please contact me. My email address is tureynolds2@gmail.com. My residential address is 1720 North Main Street, Water Valley, MS 38965, and my office address is P.O. Box 280, Charleston, MS 38921. My office phone number is 662-647-3203.
