Teachers in Mississippi will see a $2,000 pay increase for the next school year. Starting July 1, public school teachers, attendance officers, psychologists, occupational therapists and assistant teachers in the state will receive these permanent pay raises.
According to the National Education Association, Mississippi is one of the lowest-ranked states in the country when it comes to teachers’ salaries. The average pay for the 2024-25 school year was $54,9785 a year for the state.
Currently, the state of Mississippi is in a teacher shortage, with many teachers retiring and newer teachers leaving.
Principal Jennifer Riels of North Forrest High School in Hattiesburg hopes that this will help more teachers join the profession.
“We want them (teachers) to know that we appreciate them,” she said. “We want them to know that we value them.”
Riels states that she hopes that this can help schools keep veteran teachers who are leaving due to retirement or to other professions.
“They’re getting to those retirement ages, and they’re ready to go; there’s no monetary incentives,” Riels said.
For school counselors, this bill will only benefit them if they are contracted as a teacher. Many school districts and schools like North Forrest High School already do this, according to Riels, and will receive the pay increase. The bill states that school counselors, special education teachers, and psychologists may not have their pay decreased from their original salary when given the raise.
“Counselors are far and few in between right now.” Riels said. “There are multiple districts looking for one or more counselors and they cannot find them.”
Included in the pay increase, Mississippi has included education programs to increase literacy rates in the state. Recently, Mississippi rose from 49th in the country to 21st for reading proficiency according to the Alliance for Learning Innovation, also known as the “Mississippi Miracle.”
Along with adding statewide professional development for teachers, the state also created the Mississippi Math Act, modeled after the literacy program, which is meant to raise state math scores.
Riels says that the pay raise is appreciated, but won’t make a large difference.
“$2,000 sounds like a lot, but you’re talking about $2,000 over 12 months,” she said. “Is it going to make a big difference? Not really when you look at the big picture of it.”
Riels says that with this increase, though not large, it will allow for the pay scales to keep rising for teachers and that more people will want to come to the profession.
