In our previous report, Nothing in the Pipes: Educator Crisis in Mississippi, we explained how the rising cost of college attendance and the declining value of teaching salaries may be squeezing aspiring new teachers out of the pipeline. To build on that analysis, we surveyed 6,496 Mississippi public school teachers—1 in 6 teachers statewide—in November…
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To say this has been a big week for teacher pay would be an understatement. On Monday, Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann and Senate Education Chair Dennis DeBar announced a proposal to restructure the state’s teacher salary schedule in a way that would, according to Hosemann and DeBar, provide an average raise of $4,700 over two…
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In partnership with Mississippi Teach Plus, we are inviting all Mississippi teachers and teacher advocates to join us THIS WEEK and NEXT (thanks to Mother Nature’s winter storms we are adding another week!) in showing support for at least a $3,000 pay increase for Mississippi teachers. We are calling on the legislature to make a…
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This op-ed originally ran in the Clarion-Ledger on February 5, 2021. It was written by Toren Ballard, our director of K-12 policy at Mississippi First. Both current and aspiring public school teachers in Mississippi are increasingly faced with a dilemma: pursue a meaningful career educating the next generation of Mississippians–or earn a paycheck capable of…
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The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE), in partnership with Mississippi First, has launched a new website for Mississippi teachers to increase teacher access to high-quality instructional materials. The site, Mississippi Instructional Materials Matter, offers a centralized location for Mississippi math and social studies teachers to review high-quality, standards-aligned materials that have been evaluated and adopted…
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School will be different this fall for every Mississippi child. To help districts and parents stay informed, we created a new page on our website. Re-Opening Plan Tracker We have compiled a Google Sheet that provides school plans, social media accounts, and website information for every school district in Mississippi. Know re-opening plans vary widely…
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PLEASE NOTE: This is an informational blog post about actions taken by the State Board of Education. It does not describe a special program run by Mississippi First. We do not have any authority over licensure nor are we running an educator preparation program or a Praxis program. In light of the COVID-19 outbreak in…
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