Looks like Speaker Philip Loome and The Tater engaged in dueling press releases yesterday:
STATEMENT OF LT. GOV. REEVES ON HOUSE VOTE AGAINST TEACHER PAY PLAN
“Unfortunately, the House voted today against teachers getting $3,500 more in their paycheck by July 1, 2015.
I had hoped this week Gov. Bryant
could sign a significant teacher pay increase that included merit pay
and was within our budget, but the House let political posturing win
over increased teacher pay.”
Speaker Gunn Statement on Teacher Pay Raise Bill Going to Conference
Jackson, MS—Today,
House members voted to send House Bill 504 (HB504) to conference by a
vote of 71-50. Three members from the House and three members from the
Senate will work together over the next few
weeks on compromise language.
“It is obvious that
everyone in the Capitol supports a teacher pay raise,” said Speaker of
the House Philip Gunn. “We in the House have passed a bill that would
provide each teacher a raise. The Senate has followed
our lead and done the same. We commend the Senate for coming around to
our way of thinking regarding a pay raise. That being said, we are
unable to concur on the bill they sent us last week.”
The reasons we do not agree with the Senate plan include:
1.
The merit pay proposal is unconstitutional.*
2.
The Senate Plan includes a smaller total amount than the House Plan: $2,500 vs. $4,250.
3.
The Senate Plan supports lower starting salaries for teachers overall: $34,390 vs. $35,150.
4.
The Senate’s merit plan disincentivizes good
teachers to go to or remain in “C”, “D” and “F” schools. The money
follows the school, not the teacher, under the merit-based Senate plan.
5.
Therefore, under the Senate plan, 343 schools would not receive pay raises if we based the pay raise on today’s school ratings.
6.
There is no guarantee that the merit dollars would
go toward teacher salaries. That money could go toward supplies and
equipment.
Statement regarding House’s conference position regarding teacher pay raise bill, House Bill 504:
“The House Republican
Caucus position takes the pay raise of $2,500 in the first two years
that the Senate has proposed,” said Speaker Gunn. “During the third and
fourth years, we will get back up to the $4,250
total raise that the House originally passed. We will do that by
placing a revenue trigger in the legislation that says if we hit three
percent revenue growth in the third year, all teachers will receive
$1,000. In the fourth year if we hit three percent
revenue growth, all teachers will receive $750. We will remove the
Senate’s unconstitutional language related to merit pay, and there will
be no benchmarks for teachers to obtain a raise.” 
10 comments:
Without taking me to the woodshed for not wanting to search fine print, can someone please explain this particular claim?
" The merit pay proposal is unconstitutional.*"
8:39
The state constitution prohibits bonuses:
Text of Section 96:
Extra Compensation and Unauthorized Payments Prohibited
"The legislature shall never grant extra compensation, fee, or allowance, to any public officer, agent, servant, or contractor, after service rendered or contract made..."
I wonder if Tater knew this bonus was unconstitutional, and he put it in anyway to score political points with the teachers. He has to know that it would not ever be allowed. Then he takes an opportunity to bash the house because they would not go along with him.
Tater did not "score points" with teachers with a bonus that "could also be used for equipment to raise achievement." That was a joke - it would have never been a bonus and teachers know it.
9:32, who said "merit pay" is defined as a "bonus" or "extra compensation, fee, or allowance"? That is anything but clear as you suggest. Far from it.
The problem here is that the merit pay is not guaranteed in the teacher's contract. It is contingent on future performance and therefore in violation of the quoted passage....there is probably a workable solution to this problem with a bit of creativity. They'll end up working it out in conference.
You absolutely could include a provision in a teacher's contract making merit pay contingent on the teacher's performance over the coming school year. Contracts have contingent provisions all the time. This was just an excuse for the House to shoot down the senate bill.
So Phil's "merit pay" pilot that passed the house in 12 or 13 was constitutional but Tate's wasn't? How convienent for Speaker Loome
Nobody's pay should be based in whole or in part on contingencies over which they have no control. Teachers have no control over the lack of performance of indolent, unmotivated, slothful students.
What next...? Will we base the pay of highway patrolmen on reductions in DUIs and fewer traffic tickets? Will we base judges' pay on recedivisim?
Will we base legislative pay on an annual reduction in special sessions?
"Nobody's pay should be based in whole or in part on contingencies over which they have no control. Teachers have no control over the lack of performance of indolent, unmotivated, slothful students.
What next...? Will we base the pay of highway patrolmen on reductions in DUIs and fewer traffic tickets? Will we base judges' pay on recedivisim?
Will we base legislative pay on an annual reduction in special sessions?"
EXACTLY!! I am a red-blooded conservative as anyone in this state, but I can understand why some of my teacher colleagues will NOT vote for most conservatives! It is ALWAYS the teachers' fault when students don't perform. I wish some of you IDIOTS that complain about teachers' performance had to come into some of the lower performing schools and deal with situations where 60% of your students come from homes that have lived on welfare for four generations and don't care about education. They won't study. They won't listen in class. They don't do homework. They have no vocabulary. They are waiting on 17 so they can quit!! Try teaching people like that you freakin idiots! When are we going to start holding the LAZY students and SORRY parents accountable. If it is the teachers' fault, why are there ALWAYS students under that same teacher who make straight A's, score advanced on the state tests, score high on the ACT, and are successful in college and life. Some conservatives in this state are just COWARDS! They know what the real problems are. They KNOW it is NOT the teachers. They are just too cowardly and politically correct to admit it!! If they were not, they would address the real problems like apathy and the fact that the students now ARE RUNNING THE SCHOOLS because there is NO DISCIPLINE anymore. Address that you bunch of cowards.
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