JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A teacher pay raise will headline discussions over education legislation in Mississippi in 2019, but also expect debate on limiting testing, efforts to increase the number of teachers and ways to prevent school shootings.
However, little action is expected on rewriting the state’s school funding formula or expanding state programs that pay for students to attend nonpublic schools.
Gov. Phil Bryant has recommended raising teacher pay by $25 million in the budget year starting July 1 and by another $25 million in the following year. That’s enough to raise teacher salaries by almost 3 percent, according to Mississippi Department of Education figures, not counting fringe benefits. But legislative leaders haven’t committed to a specific proposal yet, saying they want to see how much money the state is forecast to have.
Teachers could also see a bump in another kind of compensation. House Speaker Philip Gunn, a Clinton Republican, told reporters last month that he wants to increase teacher supply payments, which could relieve teachers of having to spend their own money to equip classrooms.
Gunn said he will support eliminating the requirement that the state give a U.S. history exam to high school students. Students were previously required to pass the exam to graduate, and although there are now alternate ways to earn a diploma, it can still prevent some students from graduating.
“One of the things we hear repeatedly is there’s too much testing, too much testing, so we’re trying to find some relief there,” Gunn said.
Because the federal government mandates math and English/language arts testing in grades 3-8 and English, math and science tests in high school, the history test is the only one lawmakers can eliminate and still remain in compliance with federal requirements. Some lawmakers still want to try to eliminate the English, algebra and biology tests given to high school students and instead substitute the ACT college test.
It’s not clear senators will go along with the House’s plan, though.
“People talk about that kids don’t know their history, and one of the ways is to teach that content and test that content,” said Senate Education Committee Chairman Gray Tollison, an Oxford Republican.
One top priority for Tollison and the Mississippi Department of Education is to combat the increasing shortage of teachers statewide. The state began raising the score requirements for teachers to enter schools of education in 2012, but the department now proposes allowing people to enter upper-division work regardless of test scores as long as they average a B or better. If students have worse grades, they could still get in with higher test scores. Tollison said he’s uncertain about lowering the requirements.
The department also proposes $2 million over four years to pay veteran teachers to mentor new teachers. The money would provide a $2,000 stipend to 250 teachers a year. Finally, the department proposes $5 million to help teachers’ aides and others to earn teaching degrees and credentials.
Gov. Phil Bryant appointed a school safety task force led by Public Safety Commissioner Marshall Fisher. Department spokeswoman Therese Apel said no report has yet been completed. Tollison, though, said he’s already seen a document and has turned over suggestions to be drafted into bills. However, the senator said couldn’t immediately remember what was in the report.
Both Gunn and Tollison said lawmakers will not repeat 2018’s effort to rewrite the formula that provides funding for Mississippi’s public schools. Last year’s efforts foundered after Senate Democrats and some Republicans rejected the move. Supporters said the change would have created a more transparent formula that was more equitable for districts with many challenges. Traditional public school interests hotly opposed scrapping the current Mississippi Adequate Education Program, though, seeing it as a ruse to reduce funding. The state Department of Education says the projected cost of the current formula for the 2020 budget year is $2.47 billion. That’s about $266 million more than is being spent this year.
While supporters of school choice want to ramp up efforts to pay for students to attend nonpublic schools, Tollison said he expected little action on that front, citing House opposition.
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