Democrats push big investments in teachers, staff

Democratic lawmakers today filed legislation to raise starting teacher salaries and to provide raises for teachers and classified staff.

The RAISE Act (HB1168) would raise starting teacher salaries from $36,000 to $50,000 over time while providing $10,000 raises to all teachers. It’s similar to the bill Democratic lawmakers filed during the extraordinary session last August.

SB149 would provide raises to all classified staff while setting the minimum hourly wage for classified positions at $15 an hour.