/State education chief blames teacher pay snafu on computer system ‘held together by band aids’

State education chief blames teacher pay snafu on computer system ‘held together by band aids’

Mississippi Department of Education announced Wednesday that the exact number of teachers who were not eligible for funding for a $1500 raise in pay and the cost of covering the shortfall will be determined by the end of the month. The department released details of the incident and blamed an outdated and unreliable information system for the error. MDE officials used an MSIS code to refer to state-funded teaching positions when the Legislature asked for a count of teachers that should be included in the raise. The department uses a code from the Mississippi Student Information System (MSIS) to count teachers who are paid with federal funds. However, some teachers are not funded by state funds. This led to an inaccurate estimate being given to the Legislature. Last week, local superintendents realized that they did not have enough money to raise all their teachers. The MDE’s review found that MSIS doesn’t currently have the ability to collect teacher-level funding source information,” the department stated Wednesday in a press release. Wright requested $2 million more to upgrade the MSIS system in a presentation to the Legislative Budget Committee on Sept. 17, 2018. Wright stated that money was needed to upgrade the student information system. This is a continuing concern for us, and we are asking for only $2 million. “We believe that this system has been around for well over 20 years and that bandaids have not kept it together is an understatement.” A review of budget requests by the MDE since fiscal year 2014 shows that the MDE requested an additional $2 million to $5,000,000 dollars from the Legislature for the MSIS system. This is based on the year. According to the requests, the funds would be used “to improve data accuracy and eliminate duplication.” MSIS was authorized $500,000 in the 2019 legislative session. The representatives from the Appropriations Committee, Sen. Buck Clarke (R-Hollandale) and Rep. John Read (R-Gautier), were not available immediately for comment. The department stated in the release that teachers would receive their raises in one way or the other. Wright stated, “Let’s be clear: All teachers and teacher assistants” will get their well-deserved raise. State-funded teachers will get their raise with state money. Federally-funded teachers will get their raise with federal funds from their districts. The department stated that local school districts would be allocated enough money by the current appropriation to pay the monthly teacher pay increase. The governor of Texas, Phil Bryant, said that the news was made public last week. Phil Bryant stated that he wouldn’t call a special session at taxpayers expense. He and Lt. Governor. Tate Reeves suggested that the additional funds could be used as a deficit appropriation to the Legislature during 2020 session. This session begins in January. However, neither man will be in office for the entire legislative session. Bryant can’t run for reelection because of term limits, while Reeves is running to governor. This means that he won’t return to the capitol to serve as president._x000D