Teachers' salaries; provide $4,000.00 increase to minimum salary scale.

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To: Education;
Appropriations A
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Bennett

HOUSE BILL NO. 1508

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-19-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
PROVIDE FOR A $4,000.00 INCREASE TO THE MINIMUM TEACHER SALARY 2
SCALE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 4
SECTION 1. Section 37-19-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 5
amended as follows: 6
37-19-7. (1) Teachers' salaries in each public school 7
district shall be determined and paid in accordance with the scale 8
for teachers' salaries as provided in this subsection. For 9
teachers holding the following types of licenses or the equivalent 10
as determined by the State Board of Education, and the following 11
number of years of teaching experience, the scale shall be as 12
follows: 13
* * * 14
2026-2027 AND SUBSEQUENT SCHOOL YEARS MINIMUM SALARY SCHEDULE 15
Exp. AAAA AAA AA A 16
0 49,500.00 48,000.00 47,000.00 45,500.00 17
1 49,100.00 48,550.00 44,525.00 45,900.00 18
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2 50,700.00 49,100.00 48,050.00 46,300.00 19
3 51,300.00 49,650.00 48,575.00 46,700.00 20
4 51,900.00 50,200.00 49,100.00 47,100.00 21
5 53,250.00 53,500.00 50,350.00 48,300.00 22
6 53,850.00 52,050.00 50,875.00 48,700.00 23
7 54,450.00 52,600.00 51,400.00 49,100.00 24
8 55,050.00 53,150.00 51,925.00 49,500.00 25
9 55,650.00 53,700.00 52,450.00 49,900.00 26
10 57,000.00 55,000.00 53,700.00 51,100.00 27
11 57,600.00 55,550.00 54,225.00 51,500.00 28
12 58,200.00 56,100.00 54,750.00 51,900.00 29
13 58,800.00 56,650.00 55,275.00 52,300.00 30
14 59,400.00 57,200.00 55,800.00 52,700.00 31
15 60,750.00 58,500.00 57,050.00 53,900.00 32
16 61,350.00 59,050.00 57,575.00 54,300.00 33
17 61,950.00 59,600.00 58,100.00 54,700.00 34
18 62,550.00 60,150.00 58,625.00 55,100.00 35
19 63,150.00 60,700.00 59,150.00 55,500.00 36
20 64,500.00 62,000.00 60,400.00 56,700.00 37
21 65,100.00 62,550.00 60,925.00 57,100.00 38
22 65,700.00 63,100.00 61,450.00 57,500.00 39
23 66,300.00 63,650.00 61,975.00 57,900.00 40
24 66,900.00 64,200.00 62,500.00 58,300.00 41
25 69,400.00 66,700.00 65,000.00 60,800.00 42
26 70,000.00 67,250.00 65,525.00 61,200.00 43
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27 70,600.00 67,800.00 66,050.00 61,600.00 44
28 71,200.00 68,350.00 66,575.00 62,000.00 45
29 71,800.00 68,900.00 67,100.00 62,400.00 46
30 72,400.00 69,450.00 67,625.00 62,800.00 47
31 73,000.00 70,000.00 68,150.00 63,200.00 48
32 73,600.00 70,550.00 68,675.00 63,600.00 49
33 74,200.00 71,100.00 69,200.00 64,000.00 50
34 74,800.00 71,650.00 69,725.00 64,400.00 51
35 52
& above 75,400.00 72,200.00 70,250.00 64,800.00 53
The school district, with assistance from the Department of 54
Education, shall consider the teacher's years of service and 55
license type and determine the corresponding salary for the 56
retired teacher. After determining the retired teacher's 57
corresponding salary, the school district may allocate up to one 58
hundred twenty-five percent (125%) of the amount provided under 59
the salary schedule for such teacher, as applicable, as salary and 60
assessment under the program. 61
After determining the retired teacher's salary, the school 62
district may pay no more than fifty percent (50%) of the retired 63
teacher's compensation as salary to the retired teacher. The 64
remaining fifty percent (50%) of the retired teacher's 65
compensation as salary shall be paid by the school district to 66
PERS as a pension liability participation assessment. 67
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It is the intent of the Legislature that any state funds made 68
available for salaries of licensed personnel in excess of the 69
funds paid for such salaries for the 1986-1987 school year shall 70
be paid to licensed personnel pursuant to a personnel appraisal 71
and compensation system implemented by the State Board of 72
Education. The State Board of Education shall have the authority 73
to adopt and amend rules and regulations as are necessary to 74
establish, administer and maintain the system. 75
All teachers employed on a full-time basis shall be paid a 76
minimum salary in accordance with the above scale. However, no 77
school district shall receive any funds under this section for any 78
school year during which the local supplement paid to any 79
individual teacher shall have been reduced to a sum less than that 80
paid to that individual teacher for performing the same duties 81
from local supplement during the immediately preceding school 82
year. The amount actually spent for the purposes of group health 83
and/or life insurance shall be considered as a part of the 84
aggregate amount of local supplement but shall not be considered a 85
part of the amount of individual local supplement. 86
The level of professional training of each teacher to be used 87
in establishing the salary for the teacher for each year shall be 88
determined by the type of valid teacher's license issued to that 89
teacher on or before October 1 of the current school year. 90
However, school districts are authorized, in their discretion, to 91
negotiate the salary levels applicable to licensed employees who 92
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are receiving retirement benefits from the retirement system of 93
another state. 94
(2) (a) The following employees shall receive an annual 95
salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand Dollars 96
($6,000.00), plus fringe benefits, in addition to any other 97
compensation to which the employee may be entitled: 98
(i) Any licensed teacher or retired teacher 99
employed by a school district under the authority of Section 100
25-11-126 who has met the requirements and acquired a Master 101
Teacher certificate from the National Board for Professional 102
Teaching Standards and who is employed by a local school board or 103
the State Board of Education as a teacher and not as an 104
administrator. Such teacher shall submit documentation to the 105
State Department of Education that the certificate was received 106
prior to October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary 107
supplement in the current school year, or the teacher shall submit 108
such documentation to the State Department of Education prior to 109
February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 110
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 111
(ii) A licensed nurse who has met the requirements 112
and acquired a certificate from the National Board for 113
Certification of School Nurses, Inc., and who is employed by a 114
local school board or the State Board of Education as a school 115
nurse and not as an administrator. The licensed school nurse 116
shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education 117
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that the certificate was received before October 15 in order to be 118
eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school 119
year, or the licensed school nurse shall submit the documentation 120
to the State Department of Education before February 15 in order 121
to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the 122
second term of the school year. 123
(iii) Any licensed school counselor who has met 124
the requirements and acquired a National Certified School 125
Counselor (NCSC) endorsement from the National Board of Certified 126
Counselors and who is employed by a local school board or the 127
State Board of Education as a counselor and not as an 128
administrator. Such licensed school counselor shall submit 129
documentation to the State Department of Education that the 130
endorsement was received prior to October 15 in order to be 131
eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school 132
year, or the licensed school counselor shall submit such 133
documentation to the State Department of Education prior to 134
February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 135
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 136
However, any school counselor who started the National Board for 137
Professional Teaching Standards process for school counselors 138
between June 1, 2003, and June 30, 2004, and completes the 139
requirements and acquires the Master Teacher certificate shall be 140
entitled to the master teacher supplement, and those counselors 141
who complete the process shall be entitled to a one-time 142
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reimbursement for the actual cost of the process as outlined in 143
paragraph (b) of this subsection. 144
(iv) Any licensed speech-language pathologist and 145
audiologist who has met the requirements and acquired a 146
Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American 147
Speech-Language-Hearing Association and any certified academic 148
language therapist (CALT) who has met the certification 149
requirements of the Academic Language Therapy Association and who 150
is employed by a local school board. The licensed speech-language 151
pathologist and audiologist and certified academic language 152
therapist shall submit documentation to the State Department of 153
Education that the certificate or endorsement was received before 154
October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement 155
in the current school year, or the licensed speech-language 156
pathologist and audiologist and certified academic language 157
therapist shall submit the documentation to the State Department 158
of Education before February 15 in order to be eligible for a 159
prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the 160
school year. 161
(v) Any licensed athletic trainer who has met the 162
requirements and acquired Board Certification for the Athletic 163
Trainer from the Board of Certification, Inc., and who is employed 164
by a local school board or the State Board of Education as an 165
athletic trainer and not as an administrator. The licensed 166
athletic trainer shall submit documentation to the State 167
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Department of Education that the certificate was received before 168
October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement 169
in the current school year, or the licensed athletic trainer shall 170
submit the documentation to the State Department of Education 171
before February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 172
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 173
(b) An employee shall be reimbursed for the actual cost 174
of completing each component of acquiring the certificate or 175
endorsement, excluding any costs incurred for postgraduate 176
courses, not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each 177
component, not to exceed four (4) components, for a teacher, 178
school counselor or speech-language pathologist and audiologist, 179
regardless of whether or not the process resulted in the award of 180
the certificate or endorsement. A local school district or any 181
private individual or entity may pay the cost of completing the 182
process of acquiring the certificate or endorsement for any 183
employee of the school district described under paragraph (a), and 184
the State Department of Education shall reimburse the school 185
district for such cost, regardless of whether or not the process 186
resulted in the award of the certificate or endorsement. If a 187
private individual or entity has paid the cost of completing the 188
process of acquiring the certificate or endorsement for an 189
employee, the local school district may agree to directly 190
reimburse the individual or entity for such cost on behalf of the 191
employee. 192
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(c) All salary supplements, fringe benefits and process 193
reimbursement authorized under this subsection shall be paid 194
directly by the State Department of Education to the local school 195
district and shall be in addition to its allotments from the total 196
funding formula provided in Sections 37-151-200 through 37-151-215 197
and not a part thereof in accordance with regulations promulgated 198
by the State Board of Education. Local school districts shall not 199
reduce the local supplement paid to any employee receiving such 200
salary supplement, and the employee shall receive any local 201
supplement to which employees with similar training and experience 202
otherwise are entitled. However, an educational employee shall 203
receive the salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand 204
Dollars ($6,000.00) for only one (1) of the qualifying 205
certifications authorized under paragraph (a) of this subsection. 206
No school district shall provide more than one (1) annual salary 207
supplement under the provisions of this subsection to any one (1) 208
individual employee holding multiple qualifying national 209
certifications. 210
(d) If an employee for whom such cost has been paid, in 211
full or in part, by a local school district or private individual 212
or entity fails to complete the certification or endorsement 213
process, the employee shall be liable to the school district or 214
individual or entity for all amounts paid by the school district 215
or individual or entity on behalf of that employee toward his or 216
her certificate or endorsement. 217
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(3) The following employees shall receive an annual salary 218
supplement in the amount of Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00), 219
plus fringe benefits, in addition to any other compensation to 220
which the employee may be entitled: 221
Effective July 1, 2016, if funds are available for that 222
purpose, any licensed teacher or retired teacher employed by a 223
local school district under the authority of Section 25-11-126 who 224
has met the requirements and acquired a Master Teacher Certificate 225
from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and 226
who is employed in a public school district located in one (1) of 227
the following counties: Claiborne, Adams, Jefferson, Wilkinson, 228
Amite, Bolivar, Coahoma, Leflore, Quitman, Sharkey, Issaquena, 229
Sunflower, Washington, Holmes, Yazoo and Tallahatchie. The salary 230
supplement awarded under the provisions of this subsection (3) 231
shall be in addition to the salary supplement awarded under the 232
provisions of subsection (2) of this section. 233
Teachers who meet the qualifications for a salary supplement 234
under this subsection (3) who are assigned for less than one (1) 235
full year or less than full time for the school year shall receive 236
the salary supplement in a prorated manner, with the portion of 237
the teacher's assignment to the critical geographic area to be 238
determined as of June 15th of the school year. 239
(4) (a) This subsection shall be known and may be cited as 240
the "Mississippi Performance-Based Pay (MPBP)" plan. In addition 241
to the minimum base pay described in this section, only if funds 242
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are available for that purpose, the State of Mississippi may 243
provide monies from state funds to school districts for the 244
purposes of rewarding licensed teachers, administrators and 245
nonlicensed personnel at individual schools showing improvement in 246
student test scores. The MPBP plan shall be developed by the 247
State Department of Education based on the following criteria: 248
(i) It is the express intent of this legislation 249
that the MPBP plan shall utilize only existing standards of 250
accreditation and assessment as established by the State Board of 251
Education. 252
(ii) To ensure that all of Mississippi's teachers, 253
administrators and nonlicensed personnel at all schools have equal 254
access to the monies set aside in this section, the MPBP program 255
shall be designed to calculate each school's performance as 256
determined by the school's increase in scores from the prior 257
school year. The MPBP program shall be based on a standardized 258
scores rating where all levels of schools can be judged in a 259
statistically fair and reasonable way upon implementation. At the 260
end of each year, after all student achievement scores have been 261
standardized, the State Department of Education shall implement 262
the MPBP plan. 263
(iii) To ensure all teachers cooperate in the 264
spirit of teamwork, individual schools shall submit a plan to the 265
local school district to be approved before the beginning of each 266
school year. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, how 267
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all teachers, regardless of subject area, and administrators will 268
be responsible for improving student achievement for their 269
individual school. 270
(b) The State Board of Education shall develop the 271
processes and procedures for designating schools eligible to 272
participate in the MPBP. State assessment results, growth in 273
student achievement at individual schools and other measures 274
deemed appropriate in designating successful student achievement 275
shall be used in establishing MPBP criteria. 276
(5) (a) If funds are available for that purpose, each 277
school in Mississippi shall have mentor teachers, as defined by 278
Sections 37-9-201 through 37-9-213, who shall receive additional 279
base compensation provided for by the State Legislature in the 280
amount of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per each beginning 281
teacher that is being mentored. The additional state compensation 282
shall be limited to those mentor teachers that provide mentoring 283
services to beginning teachers. For the purposes of such funding, 284
a beginning teacher shall be defined as any teacher in any school 285
in Mississippi that has less than one (1) year of classroom 286
experience teaching in a public school. For the purposes of such 287
funding, no full-time academic teacher shall mentor more than two 288
(2) beginning teachers. 289
(b) To be eligible for this state funding, the 290
individual school must have a classroom management program 291
approved by the local school board. 292
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ST: Teachers' salaries; provide $4,000.00
increase to minimum salary scale.
(6) Effective with the 2014-2015 school year, the school 293
districts participating in the Pilot Performance-Based 294
Compensation System pursuant to Section 37-19-9 may award 295
additional teacher and administrator pay based thereon. 296
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 297
and after July 1, 2026. 298