Superintendents, SREB and nonprofits press lawmakers on pay, pre-K, mental health and special-education funding

Lawmakers heard a string of presentations laying out statewide priorities for staffing, early learning and services for students with complex needs.

Megan Boren of the Southern Regional Education Board told the committee that Mississippi’s teacher turnover is high (about 23% in 2022–23), that early-career supports and paid residencies improve retention, and that investments in induction and residency programs can produce net savings versus the cost of repeated teacher replacement. "When teachers are consistently taught by prepared and supported teachers," she said, "there's over a $120,000 increase in lifetime earnings per graduate" in modeled research linking teacher preparation to long-term outcomes.

Superintendents pressed the committee for immediate action on compensation and supports. Bradley Robertson (Oxford) said the state’s average teacher salary of $53,704 and teacher-assistant pay near poverty levels make recruitment and retention difficult; he proposed modernizing the salary schedule and creating a $30,000 minimum for teacher assistants. Eric Green (Jackson Public Schools) described district innovations — expanded coaching, a centralized office of teaching and learning, a career development center and dual-enrollment pathways with Jackson State University — that districts are using to raise outcomes.

Special-needs providers outlined costs and gaps. Angie Graham of Magnolia Speech School described a specialized association-method program serving children with hearing and language disorders; she said the full cost to educate a student there runs about $36,000 annually and that families pay no more than a $12,000 tuition cap with scholarships and state support supplementing the rest. Maureen Long of Canopy Children's Solutions described residential and day-school placements for students with severe behavioral needs and estimated program costs near $38,000 per child, with partial reimbursement through special-education funding.

Across panels, lawmakers and witnesses returned to three themes: the need for sustained funding for early childhood and special services, policy tools to recruit and retain educators (salary schedules, housing/child-care supports, PERS/retirement review), and clearer state funding mechanisms so districts and nonprofits are not left with unsustainable cash-flow gaps. "If we want Mississippi to be competitive regionally and nationally, we can't start the race when children are 5," Robertson told the committee, urging major expansion of state-funded pre-K.

Next steps: Senators asked staff to collect cost estimates and legislative options; superintendents offered to provide models for residency, district-of-innovation expansions and regional CTE/CTE center partnerships.