Sen. Pierce bill to increase minimum teacher salary, grow and retain educator workforce receives strong bipartisan backing in Education Committee

AUGUSTA — On Monday, May 12, 2025, the Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee gave strong bipartisan support to a bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Teresa S. Pierce, D-Falmouth. LD 34, “An Act to Increase the Minimum Salary for Teachers,” passed committee with a vote of 11-2. 

“Maine is losing out on the next generation of teachers due to our state’s low starting salary for new teachers,” said Sen. Pierce. “In order to continue Maine’s strong legacy of quality, classroom ready teachers, we must invest our treasure into the future of our state: our students. I appreciated hearing from educators across the state who live this reality every day. I am also grateful for the bipartisan majority of the committee who recognized this need and voted to support this bill. I will continue fighting on behalf of our teachers and students to get this bill across the finish line.”  

LD 34, as written, would incrementally increase minimum teacher salaries beginning in the 2026-2027 school year. As a member of the Maine House, Sen. Pierce voted to raise the minimum teacher salary to $40,000 in 2019. In the 131st Legislature, Sen. Pierce sponsored LD 1064, which also proposed raising the minimum teacher salary to $50,000. The bill received unanimous approval in the Senate and House but was not funded and died on the Special Appropriations Table. 

Speaking to her experiences as a teacher in Yarmouth and seeing school districts struggle to find qualified applicants to fill open positions, Taryn Southard shared in written testimony to the Committee: “I attribute this shrinking [candidate] pool to the fact that the teaching profession is not appealing for many reasons, including salary. If we want to continue to have highly qualified teachers[,] we must pay them more. We must pay a livable salary. We must pay people for the expertise they bring to the profession.” 

LD 34 now heads to the Senate and House for additional votes.  

Sen. Pierce is serving her second term in the Maine Senate representing Senate District 25, which includes Falmouth, Cumberland, North Yarmouth, Yarmouth (majority), Gray and Long Island. She also serves as the Senate Majority Leader.