(INDIANAPOLIS) – One of the biggest items in the new state budget came together in just six days: a big
increase ticketed for teacher pay.
The House and Senate budgets were both in the neighborhood of a $400 million funding boost for
schools, and neither said anything about teacher pay specifically — Republicans shot down Democratic
amendments attempting to add it.
But House Speaker Todd Huston (R-Fishers) says House and Senate leaders and Governor Holcomb
discussed teacher pay behind the scenes throughout the session, and were well aware of a December
report from Holcomb’s commission on teacher pay, which calculated it would take $600 million to
make Indiana salaries competitive with surrounding states. When it became clear an updated economic
forecast would add a flood of projected revenue to work with — an additional $2 billion — Senate
President Pro Tem Rod Bray (R-Martinsville) says budget negotiators already knew what items were next
on the priority list, and the $600 million for teachers was one of the first to be added.
The budget includes not only money for raises, but a step Republicans have long resisted: an order to
school boards to spend at least 45% of their funding on teachers. It doesn’t require a minimum
salary, but schools paying less than $40,000 a year have to explain to the Department of
Education in writing.
