Update 11:48 a.m, Friday July 1.: The budget has passed both chambers and is on now to the governor. Cindy Bradshaw, the administrator of the state health insurance plan, said the switch to CVS Caremark, as well as the deductible and premium increases in recent years, are adjustments to balance the finances of the health insurance plan. Bill Lee proposed more money for K-12 education and a new institute to fight anti-American thought in higher education in his State of the State address. The biggest pay raise in the budget is for teachers, who will get an average raise of 4.2% this year. That's pretty exciting.". [CDATA[// > The Utah Education Association, the states largest teachers union, supports the bonuses. In the new budget, lawmakers put $56 million into the opportunity scholarship grant reserve and expanded income eligibility to 200% of the amount students need to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. You gain access to:- profiles and social posts The plan also increases the state match. On top of writing the 2022-2023 state budget, lawmakers will also have to pass legislation that covers expenses from the current budget. If republishing the story online, please provide a link to EdNC.org or a link to the original article in either the byline or credit line. February 27, 2023 alexandra bonefas scott No Comments . All Rights Reserved. The original headline of the article must be used. Multiple teachers expressed frustration with the declining quality of prescription drug coverage since the switch from Prime Therapeutics to CVS Caremark, a change that state officials said was made to save money on rising healthcare costs. Follow whats happening in Tennessee schools in our newsletter, delivered every weekday. I get that if you have a catastrophic year, its there for you, but this should be so much more in a state that is so unhealthy, said Jason Reid, a teacher in the DeSoto County School District. PREVIOUS STORY State lawmakers hope to combat SCs teacher shortage. And here it is for 2022-23: As you can see, there are salary step increases every year for teachers until they hit year 15. May 5, 2022, by Athena Lindsey, a teacher and policy fellow with Teach Plus Mississippi, repeatedly heard the same concern when surveying teachers in the lead-up to the CORRECTION:A previous version of this article stated that recent federal legislation would have made reduced-price school lunch meals free. For 2022, an eligible educator can deduct up to $300 of qualifying expenses. here Givens told WDRB News that he expects lawmakers will be leaning directly into the question of teacher pay raises, though their approach will likely differ from across-the-board salary increases that have been sought by Beshear. State officials say these changes were made to counter rising health insurance costs that are causing financial deficits, with the reserves of the state plan dropping $119 million over the past nine years. Follow along with our newsletter. Based on data from National Weather Service and OpenWeather. The infusion of money for teacher salaries and education is part of Lees plan to overhaul Tennessee education funding. According to EdNC early education reporter Liz Bell, The bump in the rate is Senate President Pro Tem David Givens said he expects Kentucky lawmakers will be leaning directly into the question of teacher pay raises in the upcoming session. Our content must be republished in full. The budget I submit in January is going to do it again, and Im going to fight like heck to get it passed," he said.