Spring-Step Teacher Pay Bridge Act; create.

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To: Education;
Appropriations A
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Summers

HOUSE BILL NO. 1420

AN ACT TO BE KNOWN AS THE SPRING-STEP TEACHER PAY BRIDGE ACT; 1
TO PROVIDE FOR A PREDICTABLE, ANNUAL SPRING-STEP PAY BRIDGE ON 2
JANUARY 7 OF EACH YEAR FOR FIVE CONSECUTIVE YEARS FOLLOWING A 3
TEACHER'S OR OTHER INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF'S RETURN FROM THE CHRISTMAS 4
BREAK; TO PROVIDE THAT THE PAYMENT SHALL BE AUTOMATIC, REQUIRING 5
NO ADDITIONAL APPLICATION OR VERIFICATION FROM THE EMPLOYEE; TO 6
PROVIDE THAT THE PAYMENT SHALL BE CALCULATED AS ONE-HALF OF THE 7
EMPLOYEE'S REGULAR BIWEEKLY PAY, OR A FIXED AMOUNT ESTABLISHED 8
ANNUALLY BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION BASED ON AVAILABLE 9
APPROPRIATIONS, WHICHEVER IS GREATER; TO PROVIDE THAT THE PAYMENT 10
SHALL NOT REDUCE, REPLACE, OR INTERFERE WITH ANY STEP INCREASES, 11
RAISES, OR SUPPLEMENTS OTHERWISE DUE TO THE EMPLOYEE; TO PROVIDE 12
THAT THE LEGISLATURE SHALL APPROPRIATE FUNDS ANNUALLY TO THE 13
DEPARTMENT FOR THE PURPOSE OF ADMINISTERING THE SPRING-STEP PAY 14
BRIDGE; TO PROVIDE THAT FUNDS SHALL BE DISTRIBUTED TO SCHOOL 15
DISTRICTS THROUGH THE MISSISSIPPI STUDENT FUNDING FORMULA OR A 16
DESIGNATED SUPPLEMENTAL LINE ITEM; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO 17
SUBMIT AN ANNUAL REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE; TO PROVIDE THAT AFTER 18
FIVE YEARS, THE LEGISLATURE SHALL REVIEW THE PROGRAM FOR 19
CONTINUATION, EXPANSION, OR PERMANENT ADOPTION; TO BRING FORWARD 20
SECTION 37-19-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR THE PURPOSE OF 21
POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 22
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 23
SECTION 1. Title. This act shall be known and may be cited 24
as the "Spring-Step Teacher Pay Bridge Act". 25
SECTION 2. Purpose. The purpose of this act is to ensure 26
financial stability for licensed teachers and instructional staff 27
by providing a predictable, annual Spring-Step Pay Bridge on 28
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January 7 of each year for five (5) consecutive years following a 29
teacher's return from the Christmas break. This payment is 30
designed to close the six-week compensation gap that occurs 31
between December and late January payroll cycles. 32
SECTION 3. Definitions. As used in this act, the following 33
terms shall be defined as provided in this section: 34
(a) "Department" means the State Department of 35
Education. 36
(b) "Teacher" means any licensed educator employed 37
full-time by a public school district in the State of Mississippi. 38
(c) "Instructional staff" includes assistant teachers, 39
interventionists, librarians, counselors, and other personnel 40
directly supporting instruction. 41
(d) "Spring-Step Pay Bridge" means the annual 42
supplemental payment established under this act. 43
(e) "Return after the Christmas break" means the first 44
contract day on which teachers resume duties following the 45
district's winter holiday closure. 46
SECTION 4. Establishment of Spring-Step Pay Bridge. (1) 47
Beginning January 7 of the first fiscal year following the 48
effective date of this act, and continuing for five (5) 49
consecutive years, each eligible teacher and instructional staff 50
member shall receive a Spring-Step Pay Bridge payment. 51
(2) The payment shall be issued no later than January 7 of 52
each year. 53
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(3) The payment shall be automatic, requiring no additional 54
application or verification from the employee beyond confirmation 55
of active employment. 56
SECTION 5. Payment structure. (1) The Spring-Step Pay 57
Bridge shall be calculated as one-half (1/2) of the employee's 58
regular biweekly pay, or a fixed amount established annually by 59
the department based on available appropriations, whichever is 60
greater. 61
(2) The payment shall be treated as supplemental income, 62
subject to standard payroll withholdings. 63
(3) The payment shall not reduce, replace, or interfere with 64
any step increases, raises, or supplements otherwise due to the 65
employee. 66
SECTION 6. Eligibility. To qualify for the Spring-Step Pay 67
Bridge, an employee must: 68
(a) Be employed full-time by a Mississippi public 69
school district; 70
(b) Hold a valid Mississippi educator license or serve 71
in an instructional support role; 72
(c) Return to work on the first contract day after the 73
Christmas break; and 74
(d) Remain employed through January 7 of the payment 75
year. 76
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SECTION 7. Funding and appropriations. (1) The Legislature 77
shall appropriate funds annually to the department for the purpose 78
of administering the Spring-Step Pay Bridge. 79
(2) Funds shall be distributed to school districts through 80
the Mississippi Student Funding Formula or a designated 81
supplemental line item. 82
(3) School districts shall remit payments to employees using 83
standard payroll processes. 84
SECTION 8. Protections and nonpenalty clause. (1) No 85
school district shall be penalized in accountability ratings, 86
audits, or compliance reviews for issuing the Spring-Step Pay 87
Bridge. 88
(2) The payment shall not be considered a bonus for the 89
purposes of retirement calculations unless otherwise authorized by 90
the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS). 91
SECTION 9. Reporting and review. (1) The department shall 92
submit an annual report to the Legislature summarizing: 93
(a) Number of employees receiving the payment; 94
(b) Total cost; and 95
(c) Impact on teacher retention and financial 96
stability. 97
(2) After five (5) years from the effective date of this 98
act, the Legislature shall review the program for continuation, 99
expansion, or permanent adoption. 100
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SECTION 10. Section 37-19-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 101
brought forward as follows: 102
37-19-7. (1) Teachers' salaries in each public school 103
district shall be determined and paid in accordance with the scale 104
for teachers' salaries as provided in this subsection. For 105
teachers holding the following types of licenses or the equivalent 106
as determined by the State Board of Education, and the following 107
number of years of teaching experience, the scale shall be as 108
follows: 109
2022-2023 AND SUBSEQUENT SCHOOL YEARS MINIMUM SALARY SCHEDULE 110
Exp. AAAA AAA AA A 111
0 45,500.00 44,000.00 43,000.00 41,500.00 112
1 46,100.00 44,550.00 43,525.00 41,900.00 113
2 46,700.00 45,100.00 44,050.00 42,300.00 114
3 47,300.00 45,650.00 44,575.00 42,700.00 115
4 47,900.00 46,200.00 45,100.00 43,100.00 116
5 49,250.00 47,500.00 46,350.00 44,300.00 117
6 49,850.00 48,050.00 46,875.00 44,700.00 118
7 50,450.00 48,600.00 47,400.00 45,100.00 119
8 51,050.00 49,150.00 47,925.00 45,500.00 120
9 51,650.00 49,700.00 48,450.00 45,900.00 121
10 53,000.00 51,000.00 49,700.00 47,100.00 122
11 53,600.00 51,550.00 50,225.00 47,500.00 123
12 54,200.00 52,100.00 50,750.00 47,900.00 124
13 54,800.00 52,650.00 51,275.00 48,300.00 125
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14 55,400.00 53,200.00 51,800.00 48,700.00 126
15 56,750.00 54,500.00 53,050.00 49,900.00 127
16 57,350.00 55,050.00 53,575.00 50,300.00 128
17 57,950.00 55,600.00 54,100.00 50,700.00 129
18 58,550.00 56,150.00 54,625.00 51,100.00 130
19 59,150.00 56,700.00 55,150.00 51,500.00 131
20 60,500.00 58,000.00 56,400.00 52,700.00 132
21 61,100.00 58,550.00 56,925.00 53,100.00 133
22 61,700.00 59,100.00 57,450.00 53,500.00 134
23 62,300.00 59,650.00 57,975.00 53,900.00 135
24 62,900.00 60,200.00 58,500.00 54,300.00 136
25 65,400.00 62,700.00 61,000.00 56,800.00 137
26 66,000.00 63,250.00 61,525.00 57,200.00 138
27 66,600.00 63,800.00 62,050.00 57,600.00 139
28 67,200.00 64,350.00 62,575.00 58,000.00 140
29 67,800.00 64,900.00 63,100.00 58,400.00 141
30 68,400.00 65,450.00 63,625.00 58,800.00 142
31 69,000.00 66,000.00 64,150.00 59,200.00 143
32 69,600.00 66,550.00 64,675.00 59,600.00 144
33 70,200.00 67,100.00 65,200.00 60,000.00 145
34 70,800.00 67,650.00 65,725.00 60,400.00 146
35 147
& above 71,400.00 68,200.00 66,250.00 60,800.00 148
2024-2025 AND SUBSEQUENT SCHOOL YEARS MINIMUM SALARY SCHEDULE 149
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The school district, with assistance from the Department of 150
Education, shall consider the teacher's years of service and 151
license type and determine the corresponding salary for the 152
retired teacher. After determining the retired teacher's 153
corresponding salary, the school district may allocate up to one 154
hundred twenty-five percent (125%) of the amount provided under 155
the salary schedule for such teacher, as applicable, as salary and 156
assessment under the program. 157
After determining the retired teacher's salary, the school 158
district may pay no more than fifty percent (50%) of the retired 159
teacher's compensation as salary to the retired teacher. The 160
remaining fifty percent (50%) of the retired teacher's 161
compensation as salary shall be paid by the school district to 162
PERS as a pension liability participation assessment. 163
It is the intent of the Legislature that any state funds made 164
available for salaries of licensed personnel in excess of the 165
funds paid for such salaries for the 1986-1987 school year shall 166
be paid to licensed personnel pursuant to a personnel appraisal 167
and compensation system implemented by the State Board of 168
Education. The State Board of Education shall have the authority 169
to adopt and amend rules and regulations as are necessary to 170
establish, administer and maintain the system. 171
All teachers employed on a full-time basis shall be paid a 172
minimum salary in accordance with the above scale. However, no 173
school district shall receive any funds under this section for any 174
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school year during which the local supplement paid to any 175
individual teacher shall have been reduced to a sum less than that 176
paid to that individual teacher for performing the same duties 177
from local supplement during the immediately preceding school 178
year. The amount actually spent for the purposes of group health 179
and/or life insurance shall be considered as a part of the 180
aggregate amount of local supplement but shall not be considered a 181
part of the amount of individual local supplement. 182
The level of professional training of each teacher to be used 183
in establishing the salary for the teacher for each year shall be 184
determined by the type of valid teacher's license issued to that 185
teacher on or before October 1 of the current school year. 186
However, school districts are authorized, in their discretion, to 187
negotiate the salary levels applicable to licensed employees who 188
are receiving retirement benefits from the retirement system of 189
another state. 190
(2) (a) The following employees shall receive an annual 191
salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand Dollars 192
($6,000.00), plus fringe benefits, in addition to any other 193
compensation to which the employee may be entitled: 194
(i) Any licensed teacher or retired teacher 195
employed by a school district under the authority of Section 196
25-11-126 who has met the requirements and acquired a Master 197
Teacher certificate from the National Board for Professional 198
Teaching Standards and who is employed by a local school board or 199
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the State Board of Education as a teacher and not as an 200
administrator. Such teacher shall submit documentation to the 201
State Department of Education that the certificate was received 202
prior to October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary 203
supplement in the current school year, or the teacher shall submit 204
such documentation to the State Department of Education prior to 205
February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 206
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 207
(ii) A licensed nurse who has met the requirements 208
and acquired a certificate from the National Board for 209
Certification of School Nurses, Inc., and who is employed by a 210
local school board or the State Board of Education as a school 211
nurse and not as an administrator. The licensed school nurse 212
shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education 213
that the certificate was received before October 15 in order to be 214
eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school 215
year, or the licensed school nurse shall submit the documentation 216
to the State Department of Education before February 15 in order 217
to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the 218
second term of the school year. 219
(iii) Any licensed school counselor who has met 220
the requirements and acquired a National Certified School 221
Counselor (NCSC) endorsement from the National Board of Certified 222
Counselors and who is employed by a local school board or the 223
State Board of Education as a counselor and not as an 224
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administrator. Such licensed school counselor shall submit 225
documentation to the State Department of Education that the 226
endorsement was received prior to October 15 in order to be 227
eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school 228
year, or the licensed school counselor shall submit such 229
documentation to the State Department of Education prior to 230
February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 231
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 232
However, any school counselor who started the National Board for 233
Professional Teaching Standards process for school counselors 234
between June 1, 2003, and June 30, 2004, and completes the 235
requirements and acquires the Master Teacher certificate shall be 236
entitled to the master teacher supplement, and those counselors 237
who complete the process shall be entitled to a one-time 238
reimbursement for the actual cost of the process as outlined in 239
paragraph (b) of this subsection. 240
(iv) Any licensed speech-language pathologist and 241
audiologist who has met the requirements and acquired a 242
Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American 243
Speech-Language-Hearing Association and any certified academic 244
language therapist (CALT) who has met the certification 245
requirements of the Academic Language Therapy Association and who 246
is employed by a local school board. The licensed speech-language 247
pathologist and audiologist and certified academic language 248
therapist shall submit documentation to the State Department of 249
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Education that the certificate or endorsement was received before 250
October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement 251
in the current school year, or the licensed speech-language 252
pathologist and audiologist and certified academic language 253
therapist shall submit the documentation to the State Department 254
of Education before February 15 in order to be eligible for a 255
prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the 256
school year. 257
(v) Any licensed athletic trainer who has met the 258
requirements and acquired Board Certification for the Athletic 259
Trainer from the Board of Certification, Inc., and who is employed 260
by a local school board or the State Board of Education as an 261
athletic trainer and not as an administrator. The licensed 262
athletic trainer shall submit documentation to the State 263
Department of Education that the certificate was received before 264
October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement 265
in the current school year, or the licensed athletic trainer shall 266
submit the documentation to the State Department of Education 267
before February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 268
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 269
(b) An employee shall be reimbursed for the actual cost 270
of completing each component of acquiring the certificate or 271
endorsement, excluding any costs incurred for postgraduate 272
courses, not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each 273
component, not to exceed four (4) components, for a teacher, 274
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school counselor or speech-language pathologist and audiologist, 275
regardless of whether or not the process resulted in the award of 276
the certificate or endorsement. A local school district or any 277
private individual or entity may pay the cost of completing the 278
process of acquiring the certificate or endorsement for any 279
employee of the school district described under paragraph (a), and 280
the State Department of Education shall reimburse the school 281
district for such cost, regardless of whether or not the process 282
resulted in the award of the certificate or endorsement. If a 283
private individual or entity has paid the cost of completing the 284
process of acquiring the certificate or endorsement for an 285
employee, the local school district may agree to directly 286
reimburse the individual or entity for such cost on behalf of the 287
employee. 288
(c) All salary supplements, fringe benefits and process 289
reimbursement authorized under this subsection shall be paid 290
directly by the State Department of Education to the local school 291
district and shall be in addition to its allotments from the total 292
funding formula provided in Sections 37-151-200 through 37-151-215 293
and not a part thereof in accordance with regulations promulgated 294
by the State Board of Education. Local school districts shall not 295
reduce the local supplement paid to any employee receiving such 296
salary supplement, and the employee shall receive any local 297
supplement to which employees with similar training and experience 298
otherwise are entitled. However, an educational employee shall 299
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receive the salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand 300
Dollars ($6,000.00) for only one (1) of the qualifying 301
certifications authorized under paragraph (a) of this subsection. 302
No school district shall provide more than one (1) annual salary 303
supplement under the provisions of this subsection to any one (1) 304
individual employee holding multiple qualifying national 305
certifications. 306
(d) If an employee for whom such cost has been paid, in 307
full or in part, by a local school district or private individual 308
or entity fails to complete the certification or endorsement 309
process, the employee shall be liable to the school district or 310
individual or entity for all amounts paid by the school district 311
or individual or entity on behalf of that employee toward his or 312
her certificate or endorsement. 313
(3) The following employees shall receive an annual salary 314
supplement in the amount of Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00), 315
plus fringe benefits, in addition to any other compensation to 316
which the employee may be entitled: 317
Effective July 1, 2016, if funds are available for that 318
purpose, any licensed teacher or retired teacher employed by a 319
local school district under the authority of Section 25-11-126 who 320
has met the requirements and acquired a Master Teacher Certificate 321
from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and 322
who is employed in a public school district located in one (1) of 323
the following counties: Claiborne, Adams, Jefferson, Wilkinson, 324
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Amite, Bolivar, Coahoma, Leflore, Quitman, Sharkey, Issaquena, 325
Sunflower, Washington, Holmes, Yazoo and Tallahatchie. The salary 326
supplement awarded under the provisions of this subsection (3) 327
shall be in addition to the salary supplement awarded under the 328
provisions of subsection (2) of this section. 329
Teachers who meet the qualifications for a salary supplement 330
under this subsection (3) who are assigned for less than one (1) 331
full year or less than full time for the school year shall receive 332
the salary supplement in a prorated manner, with the portion of 333
the teacher's assignment to the critical geographic area to be 334
determined as of June 15th of the school year. 335
(4) (a) This subsection shall be known and may be cited as 336
the "Mississippi Performance-Based Pay (MPBP)" plan. In addition 337
to the minimum base pay described in this section, only if funds 338
are available for that purpose, the State of Mississippi may 339
provide monies from state funds to school districts for the 340
purposes of rewarding licensed teachers, administrators and 341
nonlicensed personnel at individual schools showing improvement in 342
student test scores. The MPBP plan shall be developed by the 343
State Department of Education based on the following criteria: 344
(i) It is the express intent of this legislation 345
that the MPBP plan shall utilize only existing standards of 346
accreditation and assessment as established by the State Board of 347
Education. 348
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(ii) To ensure that all of Mississippi's teachers, 349
administrators and nonlicensed personnel at all schools have equal 350
access to the monies set aside in this section, the MPBP program 351
shall be designed to calculate each school's performance as 352
determined by the school's increase in scores from the prior 353
school year. The MPBP program shall be based on a standardized 354
scores rating where all levels of schools can be judged in a 355
statistically fair and reasonable way upon implementation. At the 356
end of each year, after all student achievement scores have been 357
standardized, the State Department of Education shall implement 358
the MPBP plan. 359
(iii) To ensure all teachers cooperate in the 360
spirit of teamwork, individual schools shall submit a plan to the 361
local school district to be approved before the beginning of each 362
school year. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, how 363
all teachers, regardless of subject area, and administrators will 364
be responsible for improving student achievement for their 365
individual school. 366
(b) The State Board of Education shall develop the 367
processes and procedures for designating schools eligible to 368
participate in the MPBP. State assessment results, growth in 369
student achievement at individual schools and other measures 370
deemed appropriate in designating successful student achievement 371
shall be used in establishing MPBP criteria. 372
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ST: Spring-Step Teacher Pay Bridge Act; create.
(5) (a) If funds are available for that purpose, each 373
school in Mississippi shall have mentor teachers, as defined by 374
Sections 37-9-201 through 37-9-213, who shall receive additional 375
base compensation provided for by the State Legislature in the 376
amount of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per each beginning 377
teacher that is being mentored. The additional state compensation 378
shall be limited to those mentor teachers that provide mentoring 379
services to beginning teachers. For the purposes of such funding, 380
a beginning teacher shall be defined as any teacher in any school 381
in Mississippi that has less than one (1) year of classroom 382
experience teaching in a public school. For the purposes of such 383
funding, no full-time academic teacher shall mentor more than two 384
(2) beginning teachers. 385
(b) To be eligible for this state funding, the 386
individual school must have a classroom management program 387
approved by the local school board. 388
(6) Effective with the 2014-2015 school year, the school 389
districts participating in the Pilot Performance-Based 390
Compensation System pursuant to Section 37-19-9 may award 391
additional teacher and administrator pay based thereon. 392
SECTION 11. This act shall take effect and be in force from 393
and after July 1, 2026, and shall apply to the next immediate 394
January 7 payment cycle. 395