Mississippi Teacher Union Rejects Bill, Calls for Strike

Mississippi’s largest teachers’ union on Sunday reaffirmed its call for a statewide strike today, despite the Legislature’s passage earlier in the day of a bill granting raises of $4,400 over three years.

The Mississippi Assn. of Educators, in reaffirming its call for a strike by the state’s 26,000 teachers, said that the Legislature’s package was unacceptable because of “those portions of the bill that place excessive punishments on teachers (who strike).”

The bill included a provision, effective May 1, that a fired teacher could not be rehired unless a judge finds a public necessity to do so.

Lowest Paid in Nation

Mississippi teachers, now the lowest paid in the nation with an average yearly salary of $15,971, have been pushing for a $3,500 increase in each of the next two years.

State lawmakers gave final clearance Sunday to a $77.6-million teacher pay and tax increase measure, sending it to Gov. Bill Allain.

Allain, who has veto power, has advocated $1,500 raises without any tax increases.

Some of the districts that decided not to work today took formal strike votes, while teachers in other districts vowed to continue wildcat strikes that have kept as many as 170,000 pupils and 9,000 teachers out of school. Most school districts were closed last week for vacation.

Judge Orders Hearing

According to MAE spokesman George Brown, the strikes will continue unless the MAE board changes its stance after a hearing today before Hinds County Chancery Court Judge Paul Alexander.

Alexander ruled last week that strikes violate teacher contracts and MAE board members have been subpoenaed to show why the strikers should not be held in contempt of court.

Brown said that 15 districts, including Jackson, the state’s largest, remain under a permanent injunction from striking. He said that the MAE expected teachers in those districts to be at work today.

The compromise bill was passed in both the Senate and the House late Saturday, ending a three-day stalemate, and received final approval Sunday. It was the fourth compromise proposal developed by House-Senate negotiators.

‘Cruel and Inhuman’

The no-strike language led the MAE to lobby against the bill.

“The language in the bill is cruel and inhuman. It’s a slap in the face against education,” said Laura Jo Edwards, a Hattiesburg teacher.

The bill would boost teachers’ salaries by $2,400 next year and by $1,000 in each of the following two years. The third-year raise is tied to a merit pay provision.

The bill was approved by the House, 81 to 36, and by the Senate, 33 to 15. On Sunday, both chambers voted to dismiss all motions to reconsider the bill, and sent it to the governor.

The pay increase would be financed through increased taxes on soft drinks, cigarettes, liquor, auto sales, computer software, construction contracts and industrial fuel.