The 2017 legislative session has been over less than a week, and already Arizona’s House Speaker is aiming to get a jump on next year when it comes to increasing teacher pay.
Rep. JD Mesnard is trying to plant the seeds for his idea, proposing that schools use money they get as compensation for cost of living increases to give educators a raise.
"We give inflationary money, and this obviously the subject of a lawsuit, but moving forward that inflationary money should certainly go to a COLA [Cost of Living Adjustment] for teachers. That’s what inflation is all about,” Mesnard said.
Mesnard offered an amendment to an existing bill on the last day of the session, but abruptly withdrew it.
He said he’s going to spend the coming months vetting his idea to stakeholders in hopes the measure will be ready for the new session next January.