KUAR | By Antoinette Grajeda / Arkansas Advocate
From the Arkansas Advocate:
Nearly a third of Arkansas school districts no longer offer pay increases for experience or additional education, an immediate result of a new state law that increased the minimum teacher salary to $50,000 a year.
The LEARNS Act increased Arkansas’ minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000 and requires all teachers to receive at least a $2,000 raise for the 2023-2024 academic year.
The law also eliminated the state’s minimum salary schedule, which required pay increases for teachers with more education and experience. But districts must create a salary schedule to receive state funding that assists with the additional teacher compensation.
Arkansas schools compress salary schedules in response to LEARNS Act
Cristina Spano For NPR