The Mississippi Association of Educators has released the findings of their member survey of what political action teachers would be willing to take following the $1,500 teacher pay raise that was enacted during the 2019 Legislative Session.
“The 2019 legislative session saw no real progress made for educators or public education,” the MAE said in the study.
Question 5 of the survey aimed to discover which action teachers across the state would be willing to take.
“MAE is not advocating for one position over another; rather, we tried to capture the myriad actions being discussed by educators and determine what actions educators were actually willing to take,” read the study.
According to the results, of the 1,681 teachers that participated, 1,067 would be willing to participate in a one-day walkout, while 1,027 would be willing to rally on a Saturday before the end of the year. Over 30% of respondents said they’d be willing to strike indefinitely.
The MAE and teachers across the state organized for a strike in 1985. While teachers received $4,400 in raises, the law also made another strike illegal. Teachers who strike would be at risk of losing their jobs and their licenses.
“This punitive measure has attempted to instill fear, rob Mississippi teachers of the power of a collective voice, and, to an extent, silence Mississippi’s educators. We heard from teachers who were willing to take drastic measures to get the attention of legislators but were so terrified of the law that they were reluctant to share the county in which they teach for fear of retaliation,” MAE said in the release.
The full survey results can be found here:
MAE Survey Results by yallpolitics on Scribd
Courtney Ingle
