Thread by @ashtonpittman

NEW: Mississippi Senate leaders are proposing a plan to give teachers with a bachelor’s degree and no experience in the classroom starting salaries of $39,000 instead of the current $37,000.

They'd start getting yearly $500+ raises after their first year.mississippifreepress.org/19568/mississi…

“While teachers really appreciate the current (pay) step increases, they are so small they really don’t feel them. They are typically eaten up by inflation increases and insurance premiums,” said Parents Campaign’s Nancy Loome.
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Aside from $500 raises most years, teachers would also get raises of at least $1,325 after their 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th and 25th years in the profession.

Lawmakers built the proposal around conversations they had with educators across the state.
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The pay raises would help squeezed teachers who are "starting out with a family" and "have kids to pay for and they have a mortgage" and were "really feeling the squeeze with the current salary schedule," says @ParentsCampaign' Nancy Loome.
mississippifreepress.org/19568/mississi…

Mississippi, which offers some of the lowest teacher salaries in the nation, has been experiencing a sustained teacher shortage for years that has led some public schools to opt to allow otherwise unqualified people to teach on emergency licenses.
mississippifreepress.org/19568/mississi…

Lt. Gov. @DelbertHosemann: “Our teachers have a profession critical to our State’s success. They are worthy of our praise, respect and resources.”
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