Gov. Reeves says he may call special session on school choice, teacher pay

Gov. Tate Reeves said Tuesday he would consider calling a special session on school choice and a teacher pay increase if legislators cannot reach agreement within four weeks, Reeves told reporters at a press conference.

Reeves said both issues remain priorities for his administration and that they should be “tied together.” “We should give teachers a pay raise, and we should also give parents and kids more options to give every child in our state an opportunity for success,” Reeves said.

House Speaker Jason White has publicly opposed linking the measures. White wrote in December that “No one in the legislature is tying school choice policy to a teacher pay raise,” according to his writing. Legislative votes show a school choice expansion failed in the Senate and narrowly passed the House, raising questions about whether a majority could be assembled in a special session.

Reeves has never called a special session over a policy issue, though he has summoned lawmakers for special sessions on economic development projects and to pass a budget when legislators failed to agree last year, according to state records. Reeves said his remaining time in office makes him more inclined to act if lawmakers do not resolve the bills.

“I don’t have much time left,” Reeves said, noting he is in the penultimate year of his second four-year term. He added that it would be premature to decide now because the session is unpredictable. “Nothing is dead in the Capitol until it is dead, dead, dead,” Reeves said, and he noted the House revived a teacher pay raise bill last week after earlier measures died.

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