SPONSOR: Lewis (6)
The current minimum teacher salary is $25,000 and for those teachers with a Master's Degree and 10 years of experience the minimum is $33,000. This bill raises the minimum in the 2024-25 school year to $38,000. For a teacher with a Master's Degree and 10 years of experience these minimums are raised to $44,000 with increases each year until the 2028-29 school year when the minimum shall be $48,000.
Beginning in the 2025-26 school year and in all subsequent years the minimum teacher salary base will be adjusted annually by a calculated percentage increase in inflation as outlined in the bill and in similar manner beginning in the 2029-30 school year for any teacher with a master's degree and at least 10 years of experience. The State Board of Education shall publish the calculated minimum salaries beginning January 1, 2025.
The bill creates a "Teacher Baseline Salary Grant Fund" to be used for the 2024-25, 2025-26, and 2026-27 school years to assist school districts with a grant from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to increase the districts minimum teacher salary to the required level. The grant would provide 70% of the necessary funds to increase the districts minimum salary, and the grant fund and grants will expire on December 31, 2027.
This bill is similar to HB 2357 (2022) and HB 961 (2021).
Statutes affected: