00;00;00;00 - 00;00;31;14
Stephanie Wiechmann
Next year, existing teachers will see an increase of between $ 6800 and $ 8200, depending on teaching experience, both in and out of district. Starting pay for new teachers also bumped up by several thousand dollars to 48,000 a year. Muncie Community Schools officials say the district will now become one of the top paying school districts in the state. The move comes five years after MCS was branded a distressed political subdivision for being millions of dollars in debt and misusing bond money, and was taken over by state emergency managers after receiving a state loan that the district will now pay back earlier than planned.

00;00;31;14 - 00;00;48;15
Stephanie Wiechmann
It's been run by neighboring Ball State University in a one of a kind state approved partnership. That partnership removed collective bargaining rights for Muncie teachers and exchanged an elected school board for an appointed one. The General Assembly didn't give the partnership an end date, and at least one candidate for Muncie state representative seat wants to repeal the agreement.

00;00;48;19 - 00;01;00;19
Stephanie Wiechmann
The raises will cost the district $ 2.4 million, but its teacher retention rate has gone up 16 percentage points since 2016, landing at 83 % last year. In Muncie, Stephanie Wiechmann, IPR news.