Where the Candidates Stand on Teacher Pay
What happens to teacher pay after the statutory minimum reaches $50,000 in 2026-27?
What the policy is
Tennessee sets a statutory minimum salary for public school teachers and raised it on a fixed schedule that tops out in the school year the next governor takes office. Districts pay above the minimum on their own schedules, so the state figure is a floor, not an average.
The 2023 law that set the schedule also barred school districts from deducting union membership dues automatically from teacher paychecks. The two provisions moved together in the same bill.
Because the schedule ends at 2026-27, the next governor is the first one since 2023 who has to decide what the floor becomes next, and whether the state funds the increase or leaves it to districts.
What it costs
- Minimum salary by 2026
- $50,000
The 2023 law raises the minimum teacher salary to $50,000 by 2026, up from $35,000 in 2019. The same bill barred districts from deducting union membership dues automatically from teacher paychecks.
Two figures are deliberately absent. The year-by-year steps of the salary schedule, and the state funding attached to them, are set out in the Fiscal Review Committee memorandum on the bill, which could not be read from an authoritative published copy while this page was written; quoting them from a secondary summary would mean printing numbers we have not seen in the source. And no figure is given for any increase past 2026-27, because none has been enacted.
What Tennesseans told the survey
What Tennesseans said about teacher pay
The February 2026 statewide survey did not ask a teacher pay question. The finding below is the nearest thing it measured, and it is about how education money is spent rather than about salaries. Read it as context for the funding argument, not as a result on teacher pay.
- 64%
- say education funds are not being spent efficiently
Blame is spread nearly evenly: local boards (31%), fraud (26%), and government regulations (25%).
500 registered voters surveyed February 5-8, 2026, ±4.38% margin of error, 95% confidence. Tennessee Firefly is a product of Tennesseans for Student Success, which conducted this survey. We publish the findings in full and name them as the yardstick wherever we use them so readers can weigh the source along with the number.
Where the nominees stand
Marsha Blackburn
Has not stated a positionHer published issue planks include no teacher pay commitment and no teacher recruitment or retention plank, on a list that runs to twenty-one issues. She has spoken about who staffs a classroom rather than what the state pays them: asked about teachers by Tennessee Firefly in February 2025, she said Tennessee children deserve the best person for the job. That is the closest thing to a position on the record, and it is not one on salaries.
Source: Marsha Blackburn for Governor, Issues · read 2026-08-08
Jerri Green
SupportsHer platform commits to raising teacher pay and, in her phrase, restoring respect to the profession. Her budget plank names teacher pay as one of the specific things the money now going to vouchers could fund. She also pledges to appoint an education commissioner with classroom experience. No target salary figure is given.
“Raise teacher pay and restore respect to the profession”
Source: Jerri Green for Governor, Policy · read 2026-08-08
The 13 independents on the ballot
Independent candidates qualify by petition and never appear in a primary, so they arrive on the November ballot with no primary record behind them. Each is listed here whether or not a position exists.
Misam Abidi
Has not stated a positionMisam Abidi has not stated a position on teacher pay.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Misam Abidi: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Dean Brewer
Has not stated a positionDean Brewer has not stated a position on teacher pay.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Dean Brewer: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Ray Brown
Has not stated a positionRay Brown has not stated a position on teacher pay.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Ray Brown: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
David Hatley
SupportsHe has said he supports raising teacher pay. No target figure or funding mechanism accompanies it in his published material.
Source: Elizabethton Star, David Hatley enters Tennessee governor's race
Wendell Jackson
Has not stated a positionWendell Jackson has not stated a position on teacher pay.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Wendell Jackson: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Charles Van Morgan
Has not stated a positionCharles Van Morgan has not stated a position on teacher pay.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Charles Van Morgan: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Eddie Lee Murphy
Has not stated a positionEddie Lee Murphy has not stated a position on teacher pay.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Eddie Lee Murphy: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Lauren Pinkston
Has not stated a positionHer platform and her published interview address school safety, funding in general terms and the testing load. Neither addresses teacher pay.
Source: Pinkston campaign, Lauren Pinkston for Tennessee Governor
Victor L. Scoggin
Has not stated a positionHis platform does not address teacher pay.
Source: Scoggin campaign, Capt Vic Scoggin for Tennessee Governor
Dave Seeman
SupportsHis platform commits to retention bonuses for teachers at the schools that need them most, and funds added teaching positions to enforce class size caps. It proposes targeted bonuses rather than a change to the statutory minimum salary.
Source: Seeman campaign, The Platform: Dave Seeman for Governor
Karl Knox Smithson
Has not stated a positionKarl Knox Smithson has not stated a position on teacher pay.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Karl Knox Smithson: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
L. Webb Taylor
Has not stated a positionL. Webb Taylor has not stated a position on teacher pay.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, L. Webb Taylor: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Robert C. Vick
Has not stated a positionHis announcement does not state a position on teacher pay.
Source: Claiborne Progress, 40-Year East Tennessee Educator Dr. Vick Announces Independent Run for Governor
15 candidates on the certified November ballot · 3 with a stated position on this issue · 12 with none on the record
Sources
- Office of Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Gov. Lee Signs Historic Bill to Raise Teacher Pay, Protect Taxpayer Dollars (May 18, 2023) (read 2026-08-08)
- Marsha Blackburn for Governor, Issues (read 2026-08-08)
- Jerri Green for Governor, Policy (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, Misam Abidi: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, Dean Brewer: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, Ray Brown: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Elizabethton Star, David Hatley enters Tennessee governor's race
- Tennessee Firefly, Wendell Jackson: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, Charles Van Morgan: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, Eddie Lee Murphy: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Pinkston campaign, Lauren Pinkston for Tennessee Governor
- Scoggin campaign, Capt Vic Scoggin for Tennessee Governor
- Seeman campaign, The Platform: Dave Seeman for Governor
- Tennessee Firefly, Karl Knox Smithson: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, L. Webb Taylor: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Claiborne Progress, 40-Year East Tennessee Educator Dr. Vick Announces Independent Run for Governor
- Tennesseans for Student Success, TSS Statewide Survey, February 2026
Positions are stated in each candidate’s own framing. Where a candidate has not addressed an issue, the page says so and names the material that was reviewed to reach that conclusion. We do not score or grade candidates: the survey is the yardstick, and the comparison is the reader’s to make.
The other education issues
Does the Education Freedom Scholarship grow, hold at 20,000 students, or end?
Does the next governor raise the TISA formula, change what it weights, or hold it where it is?
Do annual testing and the A-F school grades stay as they are, get reweighted, or get rolled back?
Where does the next governor put the money: four-year degrees, the technical colleges, or both?
Explore the Tracker
About this tracker
This tracker is produced by The Tennessee Firefly, an independent, nonpartisan news outlet covering education and government in Tennessee. We don't endorse candidates. We don't take political ads. We follow the money, the policy, and the people who shape your kids' schools. All data comes from official filings, verified reporting, and on-the-record sources, with freshness timestamps visible on every page that surfaces live data.