Nonprofit Mississippi News Prior to the coronavirus pandemic began, state elected officials made promises and the Mississippi Legislature quickly passed a bill that would give public school teachers an annual pay increase. It’s now dead as lawmakers worry about the state budget in the midst of the pandemic. Senate Bill 2001, which would have increased teacher pay in the state that has one of the lowest teacher salaries, was killed in House committee by Tuesday’s deadline. The Senate passed a bill early in the session that would have given a $1110 raise to teachers for their first three years and $1,000 to all other teachers after that. Assistant teachers would see their salaries rise to $15,000, while a new teacher with a bachelor’s would make $37,000. After lawmakers failed to act on the bill, the House Education committee killed it Tuesday. Rep. Richard Bennett (R-Long Beach), chairman of the House Education Committee, said to Mississippi Today that the bill was unable to move forward in the legislative process. He explained that while teachers received a $1500 raise in the 2019 legislative session for their work, many thought it was a symbolic gesture given the fact that they are among the lowest paid people in the country. The average teacher’s salary was $45,105 in 2018-19 school year. The January teacher pay bill was described by lawmakers as a “first” step to raise teachers’ salaries to an acceptable level. However, the Legislature had to suspend the session in March due to coronavirus concerns. Businesses closed and people lost their jobs during that break, which had a negative impact on the economy. As the coronavirus pandemic affected state revenue collection, every state agency is now facing cuts. Lt. Governor. Delbert Hosemann stated that revenue could fall $400 million from the budget estimate and as low as $800 million in the next fiscal year. This will be effective as of July 1. This could mean that legislators will have to make double-digit cuts to state agencies. Bennett stated that people are in pain, people are unemployed, and it is impossible to do this to taxpayers. “We’re trying to keep the services as good as possible, so we can’t be adding money at this point,” Bennett said. Erica Jones, president of Mississippi Association of Educators, stated that the bill’s demise was not surprising. While we are disappointed, the truth is that not all educators are in financial hardship right now.” Although the bill has been killed, lawmakers may try to revive the pay increase in another piece that is relevant and still active later in the session. However, this is unlikely. Jones stated that a pay raise bill was never about filling the pockets of educators. Jones said that none of us entered the profession to make it big. “A meaningful teacher raise is about recruiting and keeping teachers, helping to address the teacher shortage crisis, making sure every student in Mississippi has access a qualified teacher in their classroom, and making sure they get paid well.”