Education; provide pay increases, revise counseling ethical requirements, and reform school attendance law.

An Act To Amend Section 37-9-79, Mississippi Code Of 1972, To Delete The Provision That Requires Professional School Counselors To Abide By The American School Counselor Association Code Of Ethics; To Require The State Department Of Education To Adopt Regulations Regarding The Activities Of Professional School Counselors, Including A Model Code Of Professional Ethics; To Amend Section 37-19-7, Mississippi Code Of 1972, To Provide For An Increase To The Minimum Teacher Salary Scale; To Provide An Annual Salary Supplement To Licensed Special Education Teachers Employed By A School District On A Full-time Basis To Provide Special Education Instruction, To Licensed Occupational Therapists And To Certified School Psychologists; To Amend Section 37-21-7, Mississippi Code Of 1972, To Provide That No School District Shall Reduce The Local Supplement Or Pay An Individual Assistant Teacher Less Than The State Minimum Salary In A Year In Which The State Minimum Salary Is Increased; To Provide For A Reduction In Funds For Districts That Violate This Section; To Provide That No District Shall Pay Any Assistant Teacher Less Than The State Minimum Salary Unless Done So By A Pro Rata Daily Amount Where There Has Been A Reduction In Total Funding Formula Allocations For Such District In Such Year Or In The Amount Of Federal Funds To Such District From The Previous Year; To Provide For An Increase To The Minimum Base Salary For Assistant Teachers; To Amend Section 37-151-203, Mississippi Code Of 1972, To Increase The Amount Of The Base Student Cost; To Amend Sections 37-13-89 And 37-13-91, Mississippi Code Of 1972, To Revise Qualifications For School Attendance Officers; To Direct The State To Provide Funding For One School Attendance Officer For Every 4,000 Compulsory-school-aged Children In Enrollment In The Public Schools; To Institute A New Minimum Salary Schedule For School Attendance Officers; To Provide That Each School Attendance Officer May Receive An Annual Salary Supplement From The School District In Which He Or She Serves, At The Discretion Of The District; To Reform The Mississippi Compulsory School Attendance Law; To Amend Sections 37-9-39 And 37-151-103, Mississippi Code Of 1972, To Revise The Time In December When School Districts Shall Process Payroll For All Employees From The Last Working Day To A Time Consistent With Other Monthly Installments As A Means Of Preventing The 45-day Gap Between Teacher Pay Periods From The December Pay Date To January Pay Date; To Repeal Section 25-11-126, Mississippi Code Of 1972, Which Contains Provisions For Retired Teachers Returning To Work While Continuing To Draw Retirement Benefits; And For Related Purposes.