Update: A victory for Educators
During the 2022 Mississippi Legislative Session, MAE fought hard to ensure the state legislature backed up the talk about educators being heroes with action. The result — the largest teacher pay raise in the history of Mississippi. Read more about our victory here.
Teachers are too often asked to choose between following their passion for teaching or making a living. Educators shouldn’t have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet, and to provide for their families. MAE works hard to make sure educators and support staff get the pay and benefits they deserve.
Mississippi recently became the final state to adopt a “Fair Pay Act” to state that all individuals working in the same jobs be paid the same.
While MAE is pleased to see the idea of workplace fairness codified, there is still work to be done. As Mississippi’s largest union, MAE is steadfast in our belief that there should be no pay discrimination in any workplace, not only in schools.
We will continue to press for laws that cannot be misapplied or misconstrued on this issue. A component of fairness includes an appropriate wage for degreed professionals and those who assist them.
Toward that end, during the 2022 Legislative Session, MAE successfully lobbied for the largest teacher pay raise in state history and a substantial raise for teacher assistants. We intend to do the same for the education support staff without whom schools could not function – the custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers and all others.
