JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Lawmakers in Jefferson City are debating a bill that would make sure teacher salaries are keeping up with superintendent salaries.
House Bill 2344 would cap the salaries of superintendents to an amount no greater than five and a half times the salary of a first-year teacher.
The bill is being sponsored by Chesterfield Republican Rep. Ben Keathley.
"It's a simple concept in which it just makes sure that teacher pay is tracking, along with superintendent pay in the districts and trying to keep those more consistent," he said.
Keathley said no matter what side of the aisle they fall, lawmakers in Jefferson City are focused on what's happening inside our classrooms.
"It really has become a nonpartisan issue. We are spending more money than we ever have on education in Missouri, on primary and secondary education specifically," he said.
Currently, the state requires school districts to pay a minimum teacher's salary of $25,000 for a beginning teacher.
Right now, the Missouri statewide average for first-year teachers is just over $34,000.
A big question is how many districts this could impact if the bill passes.
Keathley said in the research he found about 40 districts across the state have superintendents that make above that 550% threshold, some in St. Louis County and St. Charles County.
"The legislature doesn't set teacher salaries, so it's not like we can just come in and say, this is what we're going to pay teachers now. It's going to be different for every single school district and different communities," he said.
It's for that very reason that Chris Gaines, Education Plus CEO, doesn't think that this proposed legislation is a good idea.
"We ought to leave setting superintendent salaries to the local boards of education," he said.
Gaines believes the local districts know what's best for their communities and argued that in the past, bills like this haven't fared well.
"We've seen that happen in New Jersey and we saw an initial mass exodus of superintendents with those salary caps," he said.
The bill was debated in a public hearing and as part of a special committee meeting on education reform on Tuesday. It's unclear when, or if, it will be brought to the floor for additional debate.