Senate advances bill to extend salary indexing to regional service-center teachers

Senator Vickers presented Senate Bill 52, which seeks to include regional service-center teachers in the earlier salary adjustment program and to index state funding for those centers to the cost of living. Vickers said the bill corrects an oversight that left some teachers out of prior indexing and aligns funding with cost-of-living increases.

The sponsor said the measure follows last year’s broader debate about scholarship vouchers and teacher salary increases and was intended to ensure parity for educators serving in regional service centers. Floor discussion was brief and the sponsor waived summation.

The clerk recorded the second-reading vote as 26 yay votes, 0 nay votes and three absent; the bill was ordered read for third reading. No floor amendments were recorded during the second-reading action on the floor.