Episode Details

Happy Friday!

Thank you for all you have done in Week 25 to meet your own professional goals, your students’ goals, and our district's goals. Our efforts are gaining dividends for our students each week as we progress through the year, but these past two weeks have made working in education more interesting because of the things happening in Little Rock. It appears that SB294 will become the LEARNS Act and completely transform our system of education.

For decades educators have seen reform initiatives come and go. Because of this pattern, one of the commonly repeated mantras among educators is “This too shall pass”. Meaningful public education reform on a large scale really has never lasted in Arkansas or the United States, but there has always been a part of the reform that has staying power, such as standardized testing. Understanding that I have tweaked that mantra a little bit by saying, “This too shall evolve”, and this is true because we have seen it happening to LEARNS since it was released on February 20th.

I will use this Wrap-up to inform readers about the latest evolution of SB294 that comes out of the many questions the language of the bill created and the testimonies given by so many people.

Salary Increases

There has been a concern or question spreading across the state that teachers’ salaries will be capped at $52,000 but that is not in the bill. Teachers are guaranteed a minimum of a $2,000 raise. The base minimum teacher pay will be $50,000 and the state is paying for the raises in perpetuity. Separately, school districts will continue to receive adequacy funds, which increase every two years. This is what districts currently use for step increases. They will have this money to put in step increases in a manner they decide best suits their district. The $50-$52,000 is the starting point, not the ending point but school districts will have to build new compensation packages that can have steps for educational attainment and experience.

I spoke with Secretary Oliva directly on Wednesday along with a few other coop superintendents and he explained that we would still receive the usual matrix per pupil funding, otherwise known as foundation funds, and that if we are making ends meet now, the new raise would not negatively impact us. We have also learned that there will be an increase in foundation funds so we will be able to afford classified salary increases. Representative Brooks stated this week that the new per-pupil amount would be $8,129, but he has since backtracked on that exact number. Our current amount is $7,413, so if we receive anything close to the $8,129 that was spoken, that will be a good increase to properly fund schools.

Additionally, the bill says that school districts must spend 80 percent of the state foundation funding they receive for teacher salaries on teacher pay. They also must publish that information on their school website for transparency purposes so teachers know how much money local districts are putting towards teacher pay compared to what the state is sending them for those salaries. This year, Mena is at 85 percent and there are only two districts in the state who do not already meet this potential new mandate.

Vouchers

There has been much concern expressed about the voucher money going to homeschoolers without accountability. In the conversation I had with Secretary Oliva, I explained that sometimes parents in our district choose the homeschool option when faced with the consequences of their students being chronically absen