Teacher Pay Competitiveness Act; enact to raise teacher salaries.

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To: Education;
Appropriations
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) McLendon

SENATE BILL NO. 2246

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-19-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
PROVIDE FOR AN INCREASE TO THE MINIMUM TEACHER SALARY SCALE BY 2
$8,000.00; 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 53,500.00 52,000.00 51,000.00 49,500.00 17
1 54,100.00 52,550.00 51,525.00 49,900.00 18
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2 54,700.00 53,100.00 52,050.00 50,300.00 19
3 55,300.00 53,650.00 52,575.00 50,700.00 20
4 55,900.00 54,200.00 53,100.00 51,100.00 21
5 57,250.00 55,500.00 54,350.00 52,300.00 22
6 57,850.00 56,050.00 54,875.00 52,700.00 23
7 58,450.00 56,600.00 55,400.00 53,100.00 24
8 59,050.00 57,150.00 55,925.00 53,500.00 25
9 59,650.00 57,700.00 56,450.00 53,900.00 26
10 61,000.00 59,000.00 57,700.00 55,100.00 27
11 61,600.00 59,550.00 58,225.00 55,500.00 28
12 62,200.00 60,100.00 58,750.00 55,900.00 29
13 62,800.00 60,650.00 59,275.00 56,300.00 30
14 63,400.00 61,200.00 59,800.00 56,700.00 31
15 64,750.00 62,500.00 61,050.00 57,900.00 32
16 65,350.00 63,050.00 61,575.00 58,300.00 33
17 65,950.00 63,600.00 62,100.00 58,700.00 34
18 66,550.00 64,150.00 62,625.00 59,100.00 35
19 67,150.00 64,700.00 63,150.00 59,500.00 36
20 68,500.00 66,000.00 64,400.00 60,700.00 37
21 69,100.00 66,550.00 64,925.00 61,100.00 38
22 69,700.00 67,100.00 65,450.00 61,500.00 39
23 70,300.00 67,650.00 65,975.00 61,900.00 40
24 70,900.00 68,200.00 66,500.00 62,300.00 41
25 73,400.00 70,700.00 69,000.00 64,800.00 42
26 74,000.00 71,250.00 69,525.00 65,200.00 43
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27 74,600.00 71,800.00 70,050.00 65,600.00 44
28 75,200.00 72,350.00 70,575.00 66,000.00 45
29 75,800.00 72,900.00 71,100.00 66,400.00 46
30 76,400.00 73,450.00 71,625.00 66,800.00 47
31 77,000.00 74,000.00 72,150.00 67,200.00 48
32 77,600.00 74,550.00 72,675.00 67,600.00 49
33 78,200.00 75,100.00 73,200.00 68,000.00 50
34 78,800.00 75,650.00 73,725.00 68,400.00 51
35 52
& above 79,400.00 76,200.00 74,250.00 68,800.00 53
* * * 54
The school district, with assistance from the Department of 55
Education, shall consider the teacher's years of service and 56
license type and determine the corresponding salary for the 57
retired teacher. After determining the retired teacher's 58
corresponding salary, the school district may allocate up to one 59
hundred twenty-five percent (125%) of the amount provided under 60
the salary schedule for such teacher, as applicable, as salary and 61
assessment under the program. 62
After determining the retired teacher's salary, the school 63
district may pay no more than fifty percent (50%) of the retired 64
teacher's compensation as salary to the retired teacher. The 65
remaining fifty percent (50%) of the retired teacher's 66
compensation as salary shall be paid by the school district to 67
PERS as a pension liability participation assessment. 68
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It is the intent of the Legislature that any state funds made 69
available for salaries of licensed personnel in excess of the 70
funds paid for such salaries for the 1986-1987 school year shall 71
be paid to licensed personnel pursuant to a personnel appraisal 72
and compensation system implemented by the State Board of 73
Education. The State Board of Education shall have the authority 74
to adopt and amend rules and regulations as are necessary to 75
establish, administer and maintain the system. 76
All teachers employed on a full-time basis shall be paid a 77
minimum salary in accordance with the above scale. However, no 78
school district shall receive any funds under this section for any 79
school year during which the local supplement paid to any 80
individual teacher shall have been reduced to a sum less than that 81
paid to that individual teacher for performing the same duties 82
from local supplement during the immediately preceding school 83
year. The amount actually spent for the purposes of group health 84
and/or life insurance shall be considered as a part of the 85
aggregate amount of local supplement but shall not be considered a 86
part of the amount of individual local supplement. 87
The level of professional training of each teacher to be used 88
in establishing the salary for the teacher for each year shall be 89
determined by the type of valid teacher's license issued to that 90
teacher on or before October 1 of the current school year. 91
However, school districts are authorized, in their discretion, to 92
negotiate the salary levels applicable to licensed employees who 93
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are receiving retirement benefits from the retirement system of 94
another state. 95
(2) (a) The following employees shall receive an annual 96
salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand Dollars 97
($6,000.00), plus fringe benefits, in addition to any other 98
compensation to which the employee may be entitled: 99
(i) Any licensed teacher or retired teacher 100
employed by a school district under the authority of Section 101
25-11-126 who has met the requirements and acquired a Master 102
Teacher certificate from the National Board for Professional 103
Teaching Standards and who is employed by a local school board or 104
the State Board of Education as a teacher and not as an 105
administrator. Such teacher shall submit documentation to the 106
State Department of Education that the certificate was received 107
prior to October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary 108
supplement in the current school year, or the teacher shall submit 109
such documentation to the State Department of Education prior to 110
February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 111
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 112
(ii) A licensed nurse who has met the requirements 113
and acquired a certificate from the National Board for 114
Certification of School Nurses, Inc., and who is employed by a 115
local school board or the State Board of Education as a school 116
nurse and not as an administrator. The licensed school nurse 117
shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education 118
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that the certificate was received before October 15 in order to be 119
eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school 120
year, or the licensed school nurse shall submit the documentation 121
to the State Department of Education before February 15 in order 122
to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the 123
second term of the school year. 124
(iii) Any licensed school counselor who has met 125
the requirements and acquired a National Certified School 126
Counselor (NCSC) endorsement from the National Board of Certified 127
Counselors and who is employed by a local school board or the 128
State Board of Education as a counselor and not as an 129
administrator. Such licensed school counselor shall submit 130
documentation to the State Department of Education that the 131
endorsement was received prior to October 15 in order to be 132
eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school 133
year, or the licensed school counselor shall submit such 134
documentation to the State Department of Education prior to 135
February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 136
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 137
However, any school counselor who started the National Board for 138
Professional Teaching Standards process for school counselors 139
between June 1, 2003, and June 30, 2004, and completes the 140
requirements and acquires the Master Teacher certificate shall be 141
entitled to the master teacher supplement, and those counselors 142
who complete the process shall be entitled to a one-time 143
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reimbursement for the actual cost of the process as outlined in 144
paragraph (b) of this subsection. 145
(iv) Any licensed speech-language pathologist and 146
audiologist who has met the requirements and acquired a 147
Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American 148
Speech-Language-Hearing Association and any certified academic 149
language therapist (CALT) who has met the certification 150
requirements of the Academic Language Therapy Association and who 151
is employed by a local school board. The licensed speech-language 152
pathologist and audiologist and certified academic language 153
therapist shall submit documentation to the State Department of 154
Education that the certificate or endorsement was received before 155
October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement 156
in the current school year, or the licensed speech-language 157
pathologist and audiologist and certified academic language 158
therapist shall submit the documentation to the State Department 159
of Education before February 15 in order to be eligible for a 160
prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the 161
school year. 162
(v) Any licensed athletic trainer who has met the 163
requirements and acquired Board Certification for the Athletic 164
Trainer from the Board of Certification, Inc., and who is employed 165
by a local school board or the State Board of Education as an 166
athletic trainer and not as an administrator. The licensed 167
athletic trainer shall submit documentation to the State 168
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Department of Education that the certificate was received before 169
October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement 170
in the current school year, or the licensed athletic trainer shall 171
submit the documentation to the State Department of Education 172
before February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 173
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 174
(b) An employee shall be reimbursed for the actual cost 175
of completing each component of acquiring the certificate or 176
endorsement, excluding any costs incurred for postgraduate 177
courses, not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each 178
component, not to exceed four (4) components, for a teacher, 179
school counselor or speech-language pathologist and audiologist, 180
regardless of whether or not the process resulted in the award of 181
the certificate or endorsement. A local school district or any 182
private individual or entity may pay the cost of completing the 183
process of acquiring the certificate or endorsement for any 184
employee of the school district described under paragraph (a), and 185
the State Department of Education shall reimburse the school 186
district for such cost, regardless of whether or not the process 187
resulted in the award of the certificate or endorsement. If a 188
private individual or entity has paid the cost of completing the 189
process of acquiring the certificate or endorsement for an 190
employee, the local school district may agree to directly 191
reimburse the individual or entity for such cost on behalf of the 192
employee. 193
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(c) All salary supplements, fringe benefits and process 194
reimbursement authorized under this subsection shall be paid 195
directly by the State Department of Education to the local school 196
district and shall be in addition to its allotments from the total 197
funding formula provided in Sections 37-151-200 through 37-151-215 198
and not a part thereof in accordance with regulations promulgated 199
by the State Board of Education. Local school districts shall not 200
reduce the local supplement paid to any employee receiving such 201
salary supplement, and the employee shall receive any local 202
supplement to which employees with similar training and experience 203
otherwise are entitled. However, an educational employee shall 204
receive the salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand 205
Dollars ($6,000.00) for only one (1) of the qualifying 206
certifications authorized under paragraph (a) of this subsection. 207
No school district shall provide more than one (1) annual salary 208
supplement under the provisions of this subsection to any one (1) 209
individual employee holding multiple qualifying national 210
certifications. 211
(d) If an employee for whom such cost has been paid, in 212
full or in part, by a local school district or private individual 213
or entity fails to complete the certification or endorsement 214
process, the employee shall be liable to the school district or 215
individual or entity for all amounts paid by the school district 216
or individual or entity on behalf of that employee toward his or 217
her certificate or endorsement. 218
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(3) The following employees shall receive an annual salary 219
supplement in the amount of Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00), 220
plus fringe benefits, in addition to any other compensation to 221
which the employee may be entitled: 222
Effective July 1, 2016, if funds are available for that 223
purpose, any licensed teacher or retired teacher employed by a 224
local school district under the authority of Section 25-11-126 who 225
has met the requirements and acquired a Master Teacher Certificate 226
from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and 227
who is employed in a public school district located in one (1) of 228
the following counties: Claiborne, Adams, Jefferson, Wilkinson, 229
Amite, Bolivar, Coahoma, Leflore, Quitman, Sharkey, Issaquena, 230
Sunflower, Washington, Holmes, Yazoo and Tallahatchie. The salary 231
supplement awarded under the provisions of this subsection (3) 232
shall be in addition to the salary supplement awarded under the 233
provisions of subsection (2) of this section. 234
Teachers who meet the qualifications for a salary supplement 235
under this subsection (3) who are assigned for less than one (1) 236
full year or less than full time for the school year shall receive 237
the salary supplement in a prorated manner, with the portion of 238
the teacher's assignment to the critical geographic area to be 239
determined as of June 15th of the school year. 240
(4) (a) This subsection shall be known and may be cited as 241
the "Mississippi Performance-Based Pay (MPBP)" plan. In addition 242
to the minimum base pay described in this section, only if funds 243
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are available for that purpose, the State of Mississippi may 244
provide monies from state funds to school districts for the 245
purposes of rewarding licensed teachers, administrators and 246
nonlicensed personnel at individual schools showing improvement in 247
student test scores. The MPBP plan shall be developed by the 248
State Department of Education based on the following criteria: 249
(i) It is the express intent of this legislation 250
that the MPBP plan shall utilize only existing standards of 251
accreditation and assessment as established by the State Board of 252
Education. 253
(ii) To ensure that all of Mississippi's teachers, 254
administrators and nonlicensed personnel at all schools have equal 255
access to the monies set aside in this section, the MPBP program 256
shall be designed to calculate each school's performance as 257
determined by the school's increase in scores from the prior 258
school year. The MPBP program shall be based on a standardized 259
scores rating where all levels of schools can be judged in a 260
statistically fair and reasonable way upon implementation. At the 261
end of each year, after all student achievement scores have been 262
standardized, the State Department of Education shall implement 263
the MPBP plan. 264
(iii) To ensure all teachers cooperate in the 265
spirit of teamwork, individual schools shall submit a plan to the 266
local school district to be approved before the beginning of each 267
school year. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, how 268
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all teachers, regardless of subject area, and administrators will 269
be responsible for improving student achievement for their 270
individual school. 271
(b) The State Board of Education shall develop the 272
processes and procedures for designating schools eligible to 273
participate in the MPBP. State assessment results, growth in 274
student achievement at individual schools and other measures 275
deemed appropriate in designating successful student achievement 276
shall be used in establishing MPBP criteria. 277
(5) (a) If funds are available for that purpose, each 278
school in Mississippi shall have mentor teachers, as defined by 279
Sections 37-9-201 through 37-9-213, who shall receive additional 280
base compensation provided for by the State Legislature in the 281
amount of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per each beginning 282
teacher that is being mentored. The additional state compensation 283
shall be limited to those mentor teachers that provide mentoring 284
services to beginning teachers. For the purposes of such funding, 285
a beginning teacher shall be defined as any teacher in any school 286
in Mississippi that has less than one (1) year of classroom 287
experience teaching in a public school. For the purposes of such 288
funding, no full-time academic teacher shall mentor more than two 289
(2) beginning teachers. 290
(b) To be eligible for this state funding, the 291
individual school must have a classroom management program 292
approved by the local school board. 293
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ST: Teacher Pay Competitiveness Act; enact to
raise teacher salaries.
(6) Effective with the 2014-2015 school year, the school 294
districts participating in the Pilot Performance-Based 295
Compensation System pursuant to Section 37-19-9 may award 296
additional teacher and administrator pay based thereon. 297
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 298
and after July 1, 2026. 299