Illinois Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill on Thursday morning which would raise the minimum teacher pay in the state to $40,000.
The Illinois Democrat said the goal of the legislation would be to address the shortage of teachers in the state, WLS reported.
NBC Chicago reported the legislation would gradually increase teachers’ minimum pay over the next four years until it reaches $40,000 by the 2023-2024 school year.
The minimum salary would be $32,076 for the 2019-2020 school year, then $34,576 the following year, according to the newly signed legislation which Illinois lawmakers approved back in June.
The minimum teacher salary would be $37,076 for the 2022-2023 school year, reaching the $40,000 mark the following year.
For each year after that, the legislation states that teacher pay will go up in accordance with an increase in the Consumer Price Index.
According to the state’s board of education, there were more than 1,400 vacant teaching jobs across Illinois.
Pritzker has made a point of trying to attract more teachers to the state. Earlier this year, he signed a bill doing away with a requirement that students training to be teachers pass a $60 basic skills test to get an education license.
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