House vs. Senate: How do their teacher pay plans compare?

by Alex Rozier, Mississippi Today
March 2, 2022

Despite all the debate in the Legislature over teacher pay raise bills and which one is the best, they are in reality remarkably similar.

This year, both the House and Senate put forth legislation that would increase salaries for public school teachers. Late on Tuesday, House leaders killed a Senate bill on a crucial deadline day, essentially forcing Senate leaders to pass a House bill to be used as the vehicle to provide Mississippi teachers a pay raise. Though the House bill is the vehicle that survived, either chamber's plan could ultimately get signed into law.

The House bill costs nearly $220 million per year. The Senate bill costs about $230 million. Both bills provide $2,000 pay raises for teacher assistants.

A key difference is that the House bill is enacted in one year. The Senate proposal is phased in over two years, though, the bulk of the salary increase in the Senate bill is in the first year.

The Senate plan provides teacher assistants a salary increase of $1,000 in the first year and another $1,000 hike in the second year. The House plan provides teacher assistants the full $2,000 increase in the first year.

More than likely, the issue of teacher pay will be decided late in the session where House and Senate leaders meet in a conference committee to work out the differences. But for teachers or anyone else who want to compare what they would make under the House and Senate plans, the two following charts can provide some information. Click on the drop downs to see what teachers of various experience and education levels make under each plan.

House plan:

Senate plan:

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.