As teachers finalize their contracts for the upcoming school year, their salaries will reflect a $2,000 raise the Legislature passed this year. However, special education teachers might notice something missing: their additional $2,000 bonus.
Mississippi Department of Education officials said this week that they’re still trying to get clarity from the Legislature about who that money should go to.
Raising teacher pay was one of the top issues of this year’s legislative session. After months of back and forth, lawmakers agreed to give all Mississippi teachers — some of the lowest paid educators in the country — a $2,000 raise across the board and special education teachers an additional $2,000 supplement.
READ MORE: Lawmakers strike deal on lower, $2,000 teacher pay raise. Educators say they ‘desperately need’ more
According to Senate Bill 2103, those eligible for the supplement include “any licensed special education teacher employed by a school district on a full-time basis and specifically providing special education instruction.”
The Mississippi Department of Education’s appropriations bill allocates $14.6 million for the bonuses.
But state education officials aren’t sure whether that includes ”self-contained” teachers who spend their school days exclusively teaching students with disabilities in one classroom, inclusion teachers who support students with disabilities in their general education classes or other personnel who work with students with special needs.
“The words that were said did not reflect the intent, in my opinion, of who was to receive the salary supplement,” state Superintendent Lance Evans told the state Board of Education at its June 17 meeting. “It was my belief, it was for self-contained teachers to receive this.”
He said there’s been confusion within the department because of the lack of specificity in the law. The agency sent a letter on May 18 to the chairmen of the Education and Appropriations committees in the House and Senate for more details.
Rep. Karl Oliver R-Winona, during a meeting of the House Education Freedom Select Committee, at the State Capitol, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Jackson. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
Rep. Karl Oliver, a Republican from Winona and chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee that handled the Mississippi Department of Education’s allocation this year, said lawmakers and attorneys are working on clarification letters.
“We’re still working on the intent of the language,” he said. “We’re still discussing that, exactly what the intent is, to make sure we’re all on the same page. We really collectively have not gotten together and reviewed that.”
He couldn’t say when they’d get back to the state education agency with answers.
Sen. Briggs Hopson, a Republican from Vicksburg and chairman of his chamber’s Appropriations committee, was unfamiliar with the situation but said, “I remember that the intent of the Legislature at the time was for that additional supplement to be given to those teachers who are teaching special education courses in special education classes, and I’ll leave it at that.”
House Education Chairman Rob Roberson, a Republican from Starkville, had a similar understanding.
“It was only meant for teachers that are actually teaching special education classes,” he said. “I don’t think inclusion teachers were intended to be included, but that’s just my knee-jerk reaction.”
Kelly Riley, executive director of Mississippi Professional Educators, said many teachers have called her with concerns.
“In fact, I had one this morning,” she said. “It appears numerous districts are waiting to provide supplemental contracts for the supplement. I’m hoping [the Mississippi Department of Education] receives clarification soon.”
While the general teacher pay raise is a recurring amount and changes the teacher pay scale, the supplement is a one-time increase. Kymberly Wiggins, MDE’s chief operating officer, said teachers will receive the general raise in their monthly checks starting in July, the start of the new fiscal year. But the money for special education teachers’ bonuses would likely be sent to districts in two payments over the school year.
The agency is tentatively planning on disbursing the special education bonuses in October and April. But before then, they’re hoping to get clarity from the Legislature.
“We need emphatic, explicit language,” said Wendy Clemons, MDE’s chief academic officer. “We’re trying to be good stewards of these funds. We want to make sure we do the right thing.”
Evans said at the meeting that the agency could potentially be on the hook to initially cover the difference if more people qualify for the money than what’s been allocated. That’s one of the questions the agency hopes the Legislature will answer, Wiggins said.
“We are hopeful about hearing something back pretty quickly,” she said. “We’re addressing business managers and teachers at districts. Certainly, there are concerns. We’re just awaiting information.”
The agency is also trying to clarify details about the school attendance officer raises, but those positions are paid for within the agency, not by districts.
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