Team, this is great news:

The Alabama State Legislature just passed a new education budget that features pay raises for Alabama teachers. It’s critical that Alabama attracts and retains the best and brightest teachers -- and ensures their pay is commensurate with the incredibly important job they hold.

Every child in Alabama has the right to a top quality education, and that begins with ensuring our educators are respected and given every opportunity to thrive in their work. If you stand with Alabama’s hardworking educators, please sign on and share your thoughts:

This is an amazing accomplishment, and one that’s very personal to me.

My father was a math teacher and my mother was a school librarian. Seeing the dedication they poured into their students showed me that our educators are on the frontlines of building an educated workforce, strong economy, and thriving communities.

And the pandemic proved how essential our teachers are. We saw dedicated educators across the state go above and beyond to ensure their students were able to succeed in a digital landscape.

This much-deserved pay increase wouldn’t have been possible without the diligent work of the Alabama Education Association. Both of my parents were members of the AEA and I’ve seen firsthand how the AEA’s work gives teachers a voice.

This new budget signals the amazing strides we’ve made -- but there’s still much more we can do.

I plan to keep pushing for more investments in our teachers, students, and education system. Your support means everything to me -- add your name to stand with Alabama teachers as we continue to push for living wages and equity in our schools:

Thanks for standing with our teachers,

Terri Sewell