JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi legislators are pushing ahead with a plan to pay the full cost for this year’s teacher pay raise.
The $1,500-per-person raise was approved during the 2019 session. But, officials later discovered a bureaucratic error that resulted in too few teachers being counted as the state budget was written. The error meant that too little money was initially set aside for the budget year that started July 1.
House Bill 1 will cover the shortfall of more than $18 million. It passed the full House last week and it passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.
The bill goes to the full Senate and is expected to pass there, too. It would then go to Gov. Tate Reeves.
Legislative leaders say teachers have not missed any pay.