ARKANSAS, USA — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Arkansas now has the highest starting teacher pay in the country.
Teachers' salaries increased from $36,000 to $50,000 through the Arkansas LEARNS Act signed into law last year.
"We used to be 48th in the country. Now, adjusted for cost of living, we're number one," Gov. Sanders said.
President April Riesma of the Arkansas Education Association says the new teacher salary is a step in the right direction. However, Riesma believes a large group of teachers have been forgotten.
"What's happened is a veteran with 15 years of experience is making the same amount as someone fresh out of college," she said. "And that is certainly not what we see as fair when you look at the years of experience and the advanced degrees that a veteran might have."
Through the LEARNS Act, along with a $50,000 base pay for new teachers, veteran teachers already making that amount would receive a $2,000 dollar raise. Riesma says that's not enough.
"The thing that the LEARNS Act took away were the step increases, and those were intended to reward growth and give you some kind of compensation for your years of experience and your advanced degrees," Reisma said.
She says the loss of those pay scales could also negatively impact other forms of education.
"I'm concerned that when we don't give extra money for folks with advanced degrees, we are now going to be taken away from higher education because that's where the educators go to get those advanced degrees," Reisma said.
Additionally, the LEARNS Act originally promised to help fund these new changes. However, Riesma says that hasn't been the case for every school.
"They have not been guaranteed those funds. And additionally, they are not enough to cover everything," she said. "So the smaller districts or rural districts are in grave danger of being closed down because they just simply won't be able to make ends meet."
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