Committee Education Author Dennis DeBar, Jr. Session 2022 Session SB 2424 would give school districts the option to implement a bimonthly payroll system, allowing teachers to receive paychecks twice a month. Currently, state law requires Mississippi school districts to pay teachers once a month. Opting-in to a bimonthly payroll system would provide teachers with two…
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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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Committee Education Author Dennis DeBar, Jr. Session 2022 ExplanationSB 2422 would require local school districts to issue procurement cards to public school teachers no later than September 1 of each year. Teachers are currently supposed to receive procurement cards—which allow them to purchase school supplies using a predetermined amount of state funds—at the start of…
Read MoreTo 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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Today, we released a statement on American history from our Executive Director, Rachel Canter. In partnership with that statement, Mississippi First has developed the following principles for assessing curriculum-related legislation. These principles are based on our organizational values. Racism is abhorrent in all forms at all times. Slavery was a grave moral sin. So was…
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By Rachel Canter I Executive Director When I was a first year teacher, I asked my students a basic question about American history—“Why do we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday every year?”—as a way of introducing Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Without exception, the answer I got from every class was…
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