Legislation increasing the salary for public school teachers passed unanimously in the Mississippi House of Representatives on Wednesday.
House Bill 1126, authored by Rep. Jansen Owen, R-Poplarville, cleared the chamber by a vote of 122-0. The measure bumps teacher pay by $5,000, moving the minimum annual salary from $41,500 to $46,500. Special education teachers would receive an additional $3,000 annually. Similar legislation was passed unanimously in the Mississippi Senate earlier in the session, with Senate Bill 2001 offering a $2,000 increase for educators.
Pay raises would also apply to school attendance officers, occupational therapists, and psychologists, though assistant teachers were not included in the measure. Another piece of legislation, House Bill 2, would have added to the salaries of assistant teachers as part of an omnibus package, but the package was killed off by the Senate on Tuesday over school-choice measures included. House Education Committee Chair Rob Robertson, R-Starkville, said he plans to address assistant teacher pay in the future.
Per HB 1126, school districts would also be obligated to pay teachers at least once a month, alleviating frequent concerns educators have had over having enough money to cover bills and other expenditures during holidays and the summertime.
While Mississippi passed legislation to put more money in the pockets of teachers back in 2022, the state still ranked below its peers in compensation. A 2025 report from the National Education Association found that Mississippi was in the cellar when it came to a teacher’s starting salary.
Where increases are dolled out, a cap on how much can be made would be implemented at the superintendent level. The bill would not allow superintendents to earn more than 250% of what they would make as a teacher. The superintendent’s education level, experience, and the amount of money the district has would factor into salary.
At the student level, the bill slightly tweaks the state’s student funding formula, with the base cost for pupils increasing by $500 to roughly $7,447. Around $18 million would be used for the Mississippi Department of Education to identify and aid districts the agency believes to be in need of help. This would largely apply to D- and F-rated districts, aiming to improve their overall outcomes.
Another hot-button issue addressed in the legislation is the public employees’ retirement system, rectifying concerns from the Tier 5 created as part of last year’s income tax elimination bill. The updated PERS structure would allow most state employees to retire after 30 years of service, rather than the 35 years under the new tier. For first responders, the time of service before drawing benefits would be 25 years.
As things stand, the House and Senate each have the other chamber’s teacher pay raise bill to consider.