American Federation of Teachers Mississippi (AFT-MS) President Geraldine Bender joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed the ongoing struggle to raise teacher pay amid a systemic teacher shortage in Mississippi.
The struggle to raise teacher pay has been a continual tug of war with the state legislature, Bender said. While a bill to raise starting teacher pay by $4,000 was recently passed, it was well short of the $8,000 pay raise the AFT-MS had sought, and did not include a $2,000 incentive pay stipend the union requested in order to encourage teachers who left the state to return home, she added.
Teachers in Mississippi are frustrated, and many have left to accept teaching positions in neighboring states, where the pay is better, Bender explained. She said Mississippi schools have an abundance of substitute teachers in the classroom because the state suffers from a teacher shortage. The problem has gotten so bad that sometimes law enforcement officers are brought in as substitutes, but they do not have actual qualifications to teach, she added.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more: