NATCHEZ — Teachers in the Natchez-Adams School District will be getting a 3 percent raise in the coming year.

The raise was mandated and funded by the state legislature through House Bill 238. The Natchez-Adams School District school board made the raise final for local teachers at their Thursday meeting.

Under the new raise a Natchez teacher with no experience and a bachelor’s degree — the lowest possible qualifications — will make $32,025 annually, including a local district supplement of $1,125.

A teacher with a bachelor’s degree and 25 years of experience will make $46,565.

A teacher with no experience and a doctorate degree will make $36,645. On the highest end of the scale, teachers with a doctorate and 25 years of experience will make $59,430.

Pay rates go up each year and with each of the four available levels of certification — a bachelor’s, a master’s, an educational specialist and a doctorate.

Superintendent Anthony Morris said the additional 3 percent will come from the state, not local funds.

Assistant teachers will receive a $500 raise, bringing them to $12,500 if they have no previous experience. Their rates of pay also increase with experience. Assistant teachers with 15 years of experience or more make $14,374 annually.

This is the first year in several years that the state has fully funded education. In recent years local school districts were left with the responsibility of funding state mandated raises on their own.