Prevailing opinions among school leaders in central Illinois is trending towards a neutral stance on a teacher minimum salary and questions surrounding the minimum wage hike.

Superintendent of Blue Ridge Schools, Susan Wilson, recently weighed in on the two pieces of legislation that will impact schools and she believes the teacher minimum salary is not going to have a great impact on schools, even Blue Ridge, because the teacher shortage is dictating schools adjust their salaries as they face a teacher shortage.

The minimum wage hike, however, is concerning for Wilson. She is fearful it will impact the ability of their students to find work. For the district, when hiring, they will start looking for employees with more skills. 

Wilson believes the phase-in of the minimum wage is going to make the change easier and points out their classroom staff is required to have some level of skill development while other staff does not have those requirements and says it will remain to be seen how those non-skilled positions are impacted.