Missouri committee hears proposal to tweak SB 727 teacher minimum salary, funding and 5‑day incentive

Representative Lewis opened a committee hearing on House Bill 607 to propose targeted changes to the teacher minimum salary law enacted last year as part of SB 727. The bill would tweak how the baseline minimum salary grows with the Consumer Price Index (CPI), restore statutory language related to inclement‑weather and Alternative Methods of Instruction (AMI) days tied to a 1% five‑day school‑week incentive, and adjust the structure and timing of the baseline teacher salary grant that funds the increases.

Lewis said the measure is intended as “the SB 727 tweak,” adding the goal was to keep the baseline a true minimum and to make the CPI schedule and timing more manageable for districts. “When I think of the baseline salary, the minimum, it's truly supposed to be a minimum,” Lewis said. She described an original intent for the baseline to start lower and grow via CPI toward roughly $50,000 in about 10 years and said the Senate version that set a $40,000 baseline accelerated that timeline beyond her intent.

The bill as described by Lewis would: (1) alter the CPI application timetable for baseline growth so increases begin slightly earlier or later than the enacted language; (2) restore statutory exceptions tied to inclement weather and AMI days so districts that lose days to weather are not penalized for falling below the 169‑day threshold used to determine the 1% five‑day school‑week incentive; and (3) clarify the grant funding model that pays for the baseline increase, which currently is fully state funded and would transition to a 50/50 state‑district match beginning in the 2030s unless reauthorized.

Lewis told lawmakers the 1% incentive language in SB 727 uses a days‑based test—more than 169 days—to define a five‑day school week, and that change from an hours‑based test has left districts uncertain about how snow days and AMI days affect eligibility. “Because they went away from hours again...some schools that had 169 days...if this goes into place and it already has, schools are worried that...we dropped below 169. We don't get that 1% bump,” Lewis said.

Fiscal details were discussed in committee. Lewis referenced a fiscal estimate showing the baseline teacher salary grant program at roughly $30,000,000 in the current budget and cited a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) estimate that the total annual cost could reach about $38,000,000 by 2035 under the assumptions used in the fiscal note. She said the governor's budget provides funds to implement elements of SB 727 in the near term and that the proposed tweaks would not change near‑term funding levels but could affect long‑term growth and affordability for the state and districts.

Witnesses opposed parts of the bill focused on limiting or changing the salary increases. Matt Michaelson, testifying for the Missouri State Teachers Association, said MSTA would “go on record in opposition to the bill. Specifically on the section regarding the minimum teacher salary.” He argued that the CPI mechanism was put into law so the minimum would grow without repeated legislative fixes and warned that rolling back or changing that promise undermines recruitment and retention efforts.

Mike Ludwig, representing the Missouri Council of School Administrators, also opposed the bill’s provisions that would limit scheduled increases. He described SB 727 as “transformational in education” and said districts are beginning to respond to the pay increases; Ludwig urged lawmakers not to “shirk from the hard conversations” about funding but cautioned that moving the cost back to districts later would raise taxpayer and formula issues.

Committee members pressed Lewis on specifics, including the 169‑day threshold for the five‑day incentive, how AMI and snow‑day forgiveness currently work in statute, and the timing of the 50/50 match phase‑in for the grant. Representative Black asked whether districts offering a four‑day week could qualify under the days‑based test; Lewis responded that such a district would need an impractically long annual span to meet the days threshold. Black also asked whether Lewis would be amenable to removing the five‑day incentive language from the amendment; Lewis said she would be “amenable to that” while noting the need to find a solution that removes uncertainty for DESE and districts.

No formal committee votes were recorded during the hearing. The chair closed the hearing after receiving two opposing witnesses and no witnesses in favor; Lewis and committee members indicated further discussion and potential amendment would follow.

The hearing combined technical statutory fixes with budget and policy tradeoffs: how to preserve a legally guaranteed minimum salary that grows with CPI, how to fund that growth sustainably, and how to measure a five‑day school week without penalizing districts for weather or AMI days. DESE figures and the fiscal note were cited repeatedly; several committee members said more technical detail and time would be needed before any final action.

The committee record shows the hearing concluded after testimony from the Missouri State Teachers Association and the Missouri Council of School Administrators; no additional testimony was received and no vote was taken at that time.