In September, his opponent, Democrat Attorney General Jim Hood announced his education plan to an elementary school in Greenville. Reeves, unlike Hood, did not commit to fully funding education. However, both candidates shared multiple proposals, including: Reeves presented his plan alongside teachers from Gulfport. He claimed that increased revenue collection will allow him raise teacher salaries and invest in other programs, without raising taxes. This year’s contentious topic is teacher pay. Nearly all gubernatorial candidates have pledged to raise Mississippi teachers’ salaries to the Southeastern average of $51,000 in the 2015-16 school years according to the Southern Regional Education Board. According to the latest data from the Mississippi Department of Education for 2017, the average salary of a Mississippi public school teacher was $44,926. Reeves and state legislators passed a $1500 raise for teachers and assistants teachers in April. Some thought it was a “slap on the face.” Reeves’ plan to raise teacher salaries would bring them up to the average Southeastern salary in four years. The first year Mississippi teacher earns $35,890 in salary without any district supplement. Reeves suggested a $1500 increase in the first year, followed by a $1,000 and $800 increases in the second and third year. Reeves estimated that the state would need to spend approximately $224 million to give the $4,300 extra to teachers. Reeves stated that “we know that not a single teacher in the state makes what they’re worth.” “As governor I want you know that I’ll help our teachers,” Hood said. Hood also challenged Hood’s assertion on Wednesday at a separate news conference. Hood stated that he did not promise to support an election-year plan. However, he made clear that he would support school choice measures such as education scholarship accounts. This is an issue Reeves has championed in his time as lieutenant governor. Reeves stated that he supports the implementation of a $10,000 bonus to new teachers who choose to teach in areas where there is a shortage in STEM subjects and geographic areas like the Mississippi Delta. This would help address Mississippi’s teacher shortage. Reeves also suggested increasing the bonus that teachers get when they become National Board Certified to $6,000 to $10,000 and creating a teacher advisory board to advise the governor about their needs. His early education plans include additional funding for Mississippi’s early learning cooperatives which currently serve approximately 3,200 children each year. The 2013 legislative session saw the creation of collaboratives to provide funding for communities to support high-quality early childhood education and services. The Legislature has allocated $6.5 million to this program since their inception. However, Reeves didn’t provide any dollar amounts in his plan. Mississippi currently has 18 collaboratives. You can view the complete plan of Reeves here. Bobby Harrison contributed to this report.