Bakersfield Superintendent Dr. Amy Padgett
Last week, the Missouri Senate and House passed bills and Governor Mike Parson signed them into law increasing teacher pay. The bills raise the minimum teacher pay in Missouri to $40,000 and also increase funding for small schools, and incentivize five-day school weeks and preschools.
Bakersfield Superintendent Dr. Amy Padgett, who is also the President of the Southwest Missouri Association of School Administrators, says the group is thrilled to see the increased pay for teachers, but superintendents are concerned about how districts are going to pay for the increases.
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Currently, the minimum teacher salary in the Show-Me State is $25,000 which the state has helped districts offset the last two years.
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Padgett is afraid districts in Missouri will face a similar situation they did about 15 years ago if the state is unable to fund the new mandate.
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If the state is not able to provide districts with funding, some may have to ask voters for a levy increase. Padgett says they won’t do that in Bakersfield, but they would have to find other ways to trim the budget.
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Another part of the legislation is to incentivize school districts to have a five-day school week. The Bakersfield superintendent says they have had a four-day school week for six-years, and it has been instrumental in recruiting and retaining quality teachers.
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The legislation will also double funding for schools with an average daily attendance of 350 students or less and will increase funding for preschools from 4% to 8%.
It also increases salaries for teachers with a master’s degree and 10+ years of experience to $48,000 per year by 2027, and it increases all teachers’ salaries by the January Consumer Price Index report, with a cap of 3% annually.
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