Mississippians who have just graduated from college this summer may be celebrating now but they also just joined the millions of Americans facing student loan repayment, as their six-month grace period ends soon.

Mississippi residents share $16.2 billion in student loan debt.

Brian Walsh, head of advice and planning at SoFi, a personal finance company, recommended proactive budgeting and emphasized the importance of treating the loan payment as a non-negotiable expense.

"Build your budget as if you have that payment -- maybe you make payments when you don't have to, maybe you throw it in a checking savings account -- whatever it may be, build that budget accordingly," Walsh advised. "Then, figure out the best approach for you when it comes to paying back your student loans."

According to the website EducationData.org, just over 15.% of state residents, or about 447,000 people, have student loan debt, with an average of more than $36,000.

Walsh noted Mississippi college students who struggle with loan payments have multiple options for reducing costs, including processes like consolidation and refinancing.

"Consolidation is through the federal government, where essentially you would be combining however many federal student loans you have, and it makes one payment, makes things easier," Walsh explained. "You can adjust the repayment terms so you can lower your payment but your interest rate isn't going to change."

The Saving on a Valuable Education program, which is an income-driven repayment plan for federal student aid, remains in effect, as approved by the courts. Students can still sign up for the program, choose other income-driven repayment options, or consolidate their loans, according to the government website StudentAid.gov.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

By Garrett Bergquist for WISH-TV.
Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the WISH-TV-Free Press Indiana-Public News Service Collaboration

Despite disagreement over how much, a Senate committee unanimously approved a bill to teacher pay raise.

The measure, which passed the committee Jan. 22, would raise the minimum salary for teachers in Indiana to $45,000 per year, the same amount Gov. Mike Braun proposed in his budget. Current law requires teachers to be paid at least $40,000 per year.

Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, said he supports the $5,000 raise but it would still leave teachers at less than 150 percent of the federal poverty line for a family of four. Qaddoura proposed raising teacher pay to $65,000 per year and tried to amend the bill Wednesday afternoon to do so.

Qaddoura’s proposal failed on a party-line vote. Bill author Sen. Linda Rogers, R-Granger, said she doesn’t believe the state budget could support a larger raise.

“The data shows that we can move to $45,000, and eventually I would love to see us at $65,000 but we have to remember that we have a tight budget and school corporations also have tight budgets,” she said.

Rogers later told News 8 her bill likely will stick with the $45,000 figure rather than attempting to find a level between $45,000 and $65,000. She said the bill would still mean an immediate pay raise for roughly 6,000 teachers who make between $40,000 and $45,000 per year.

The teacher pay issue has played a key role in battles over education funding at the Statehouse for years.

According to the National Education Association, the average teacher in Indiana starts at $42,735 per year, with overall teacher pay averaging $57,015. Those numbers place Indiana 28th and 36th in the nation, respectively.

Qaddoura, who also serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee and the State Budget Committee, said there’s enough money in the budget to support a higher teacher salary if lawmakers scale back appropriations elsewhere, such as school vouchers and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.

In addition to the pay raise, Rogers’ bill would provide up to 20 days of paid parental leave for full-time teachers and 10 days of leave for part-time teachers. It slightly increases the share of state tuition support schools must put toward teacher compensation, from 62% to 65%. Rogers said all of the provisions in her bill would help public school corporations hire and retain teachers.

Because the bill involves a budget item, it has to go to the Senate Appropriations Committee for additional review before it heads to the full Senate for further consideration.


Garrett Bergquist wrote this article for WISH-TV.


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Establishing minimum salaries for educators and school staff will be a top priority for the Massachusetts Teachers Association this legislative session.

The union is backing a bill to ensure K-12 support staff receive a minimum salary of $55,000 a year, while teachers would earn a minimum of $70,000.

Union President Max Page said pay raises could reduce the number of bargaining campaigns across the state.

"We're putting a stake in the ground," said Page, "saying let's be truthful about what it costs to bring in and retain the best new generation of educators."

Page said the union is also aiming for pay increases at state universities and the University of Massachusetts system, and to ensure part-time adjunct faculty are eligible for state pensions and health insurance.

A recent study found Massachusetts faculty members are the lowest paid in the nation when compared to states with similar costs of living.

Thousands of unionized teachers across the North Shore rallied last year to raise awareness about their lack of paid parental leave.

State law requires most workers have access to the Paid Family and Medical Leave Program, but that doesn't apply to municipal workers, including teachers.

Page said it's long overdue and the union will be pushing for the change this session.

"We believe that educators, who make up the lion's share of those and are largely women, should have access to that," said Page. "And that would take that off the table and off the contentious negotiations that happen across the state."

With more than $2 billion now raised in Fair Share Amendment funds to help pay for public transportation and education, Page said the union will continue to lobby for debt-free higher education in Massachusetts beyond community college.

The union also aims to correct the state's Chapter 70 formula and ensure state funding keeps up with inflation.

A new virtual charter school offering two hours of artificial intelligence-based learning wants to expand into Pennsylvania.

The Unbound Academy proposal awaits approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. It operates at some private schools in Texas but its founders have had charter school applications rejected in Arkansas, North Carolina and Utah.

There are 14 cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania, serving more than 57,000 students.

Carol Burris, executive director of the nonprofit Network for Public Education, said kids already struggle with online learning, so an AI-based model may not help.

"As a former educator, I'm extremely concerned," Burris stressed. "Children don't do well in online schools, and this school promises even less instruction than a typical online charter school might."

Burris pointed out the Unbound Academy calls its instructors "guides" and has plans to open a brick-and-mortar location in Lancaster. An academy cofounder said online charters impart practical skills, help kids learn at their own pace and give homeschooled students another alternative.

The academy proposes a two-hour learning session for $5,500 per student. But in Arizona, its proposed fee is $2,000.

Moira Kaleida, executive director of the Pittsburgh-based Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, said her group is asking legislators to tighten the state's cyber charter law to prevent anyone taking advantage of families.

"What we have seen with this Unbound Academy is, yet again, a conglomerate of kind of the same people making money off of each other," Kaleida contended. "Charging different prices in order to take the most advantage of a really poor law in Pennsylvania that would only serve to make them rich and hurt our children."

Kaleida noted her group has not seen proof of the learning model's success. She added test results to help prove whether the AI model is doing a good job of educating students are unverifiable.

"This model is being sold as some golden ticket and provable," Kaleida argued. "Where we have no research, no accountability, nothing to show that this is actually backed up by test results, by academics, by a peer-reviewed study."

State lawmakers seem to agree more financial transparency is needed for cyber charter schools, which currently are regulated the same way as other charter schools.