RAISE deserved

We need to pay our teachers better

In her inaugural address on the steps of the state Capitol, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “We will reward our teachers with higher pay.” Just minutes before, in her first address to the state Legislature, she strongly delivered the line, “If you send me a bill that rewards our teachers with higher pay, I will sign it.”

Today, Democratic members of the state House and Senate are prepared to join our Republican colleagues in making good on pay raises for our public school teachers and staff, and to say with one voice that working in public education in Arkansas should be a rewarding and well-paid profession.

We have introduced the RAISE Act of 2023. Raising Arkansas’ Investment in Schools and Educators, or RAISE, is the best investment we can make in Arkansas’ future. We know that there are many other changes the governor and majority party are considering to our education system, on which we likely disagree. Each of these measures will be given due consideration, but we know the best move for our students and teachers is a raise now, without delay, and without being combined with far more controversial changes being suggested by our Republican colleagues.

Last year, Democrats stood together with teachers across Arkansas to propose that we spend a portion of our $1.6 billion budget surplus on teacher raises, rather than more tax cuts for the very wealthy. We find ourselves faced, once again, with decisions about Arkansas’ public-education priorities. We remain certain that Arkansas educators deserve a RAISE, and that this bill will deliver for them.

The RAISE Act of 2023 will raise teacher salaries by $10,000 and lift the minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000. We hope our colleagues will join us in this ongoing commitment to raising teacher salaries and sustaining the pay increases year over year.

We are not proposing one-time bonuses, but a permanent elevation of the teaching profession to bring our state’s teachers’ salaries out of the cellar and to a more competitive regional level.

Arkansas Democrats also believe that the classified staff in our schools deserve a raise. Our proposal for support staff and classified staff raises comes from a recommendation out of the legislative adequacy study last fall and provides sufficient funding for a $4/hour raise for school support staff, like teachers’ aides, cafeteria workers, janitors, and others who are a vital part of our school communities. This represents a $42 million investment in the workers who keep our children fed, supported, and safe at school.

There will be many conversations over the coming weeks about how to improve access to pre-K and early childhood education, boost our literacy attainment, and, unfortunately, the governor’s plan to allow public tax dollars to be used for private and religious school vouchers. Those arguments are each owed debate and consideration.

But right now, there is a majority in this Legislature that wants pay raises for teachers to make us competitive across the South and to acknowledge the hard work our support staff does as valuable members of our school communities.

We look forward to passing the RAISE Act and the complementary bill for classified staff raises. We hope our Republican colleagues and Governor Sanders will join us in swift delivery of pay raises and starting-pay bumps to the very people we entrust with the future of Arkansas, our children.

There are 18 Democratic representatives in the Arkansas House of Representatives, and six Democratic senators in the state Senate.