Mississippi teachers just got a pay raise. Why are they mad?

Saying the state could ill-afford more, Mississippi legislative leaders passed a $1,500 across-the-board pay raise for the state’s teachers and assistants Thursday.

“It’s not where we want to be, but it’s what we can do,” House Education Chairman Richard Bennett, R-Long Beach, said while outlining the proposal. “My hope is that we can come back in future years and increase this pay and eventually catch up."

The proposal ratified in the House and Senate on Thursday inches the starting pay for the state’s teachers with a bachelor’s degree toward $36,000 but trails the $4,000 increase that teacher groups lobbied for.

Mississippi teachers on average earn $44,659, according to the Mississippi Department of Education, while the average teacher in the Southeast makes just shy of $51,000.

"We are angry. Our educators are angry. Every Mississippian should be angry," Joyce Helmick with the Mississippi Association of Educators, the state's largest teacher union, said in a statement after the Senate's vote. "Why can't this state's elected leaders truly commit to invest in our educators?" 

Early debate over an initial $1,000 pay raise plan set fora  two-year phase-in was largely partisan. That appeared to evolve when several rank-and-file Republicans joined House Democrats to support a $4,000 pay raise amendment. 

But the prospects of keeping that change quickly dimmed as the bill entered into negotiations.

Leading up to Thursday, Democrats and public school advocacy groups argued the revenue projections legislative leaders adopted on Monday were too conservative and treated what is likely to be recurring revenue increases as "one-time" money.

Senate and House Democratic leaders unsuccessfully attempted to send the measure back to negotiations for a higher raise.

"The question I've gotten from my teachers back home was simply, 'Was it a joke?'" Sen. Derrick Simmons, D-Greenville, said.

Republican leaders have countered that the offer is a reflection of the state’s revenues, not a true valuation of teachers.

"What would you be willing to cut?" Senate Appropriation Chairman Buck Clarke, R-Hollandale, asked. "Everything has been spent, I assure you." 

Simmons and Sen. Sollie Norwood, D-Jackson, were the sole no votes in the Senate. Both legislators voted down the proposal in protest.

House lawmakers adopted the raise on a 88-27 vote. Two Republicans, an independent, and 24 Democratic representatives voted no.

Gov. Phil Bryant is expected to sign the legislation which is estimated to cost the state $58 million a year. If signed into law, pay raises would begin July 1.

As news spread of the teacher raise deal reached late Wednesday, teachers across the state expressed their frustrations on social media.

"This shows no respect for our profession," one Rankin County educator wrote. "Without education being a priority, our state will never move from the bottom."

The bill also moves the needle for assistant teachers from $12,500 to $14,000.

That's enough to put some distance between teacher aides and the federal poverty line but far from economic security. In order to cover basic expenses, such as housing and groceries, a single adult in Mississippi should make at least $22,963 or $11 per hour, according to the MIT-based living wage calculator. Mississippi offers Social Security coverage.

Legislators are also asking Bryant to approve a state budget that will incorporate an up to 3 percent raise for many state agency employees. Spending bills passed this week also include funds to provide pay raises to some university and community college employees.

More:I am a teacher with a 2nd job in Mississippi: 'You bust your behind, hoping you'll get ahead.'

More:Teacher assistants in Mississippi make as little as $12,500, less than half of the national average

More:Will teacher pay gap between Miss., Southeast widen as other states raise pay?

Contact Bracey Harris at 601-961-7248 or bharris2@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter.