Education is the major topic for legislators at the moment, and Senator for District 12 Amy Sinclair shares one bill that they are working on.

Sinclair mentions that teacher recruitment and retention has been a big topic for many years. She tells Raccoon Valley Radio that the last time teacher salaries were touched by legislators was 10-12 years ago, which has prompted action.

“The Governor had a proposal that she came out with that would increase the minimum teacher salary as well as providing a floor for veteran teachers as well. Now, that was a pretty spendy bill that she brought forward related to teacher salaries, and so how do we implement that? Are those the numbers that make sense? Does that make it harder for other sectors of our economy to hire folks because we’re luring them (to) other places? Just all kinds of things to consider.”

Sinclair mentions that teachers are professionals who provide a necessary service to their communities, and spend a large amount of time educating themselves to do their jobs. She adds that because of this, the Senate also has a proposal to bring the minimum salary for teachers up to compensate them for the crucial task they perform.