Glorified babysitter pay ...

We’re entering a dangerous time in our society when people with knowledge and experience are largely ignored and people with no experience are revered.

Suddenly it seems everyone in the world is an expert and anyone with an opinion feels they are an authority. I can tell you this: If I need a physician to conduct a lifesaving procedure, I don’t want a person who thinks he/she can save my life because they stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night. Likewise, I want my nieces and nephews taught by highly qualified educators who are well compensated for their knowledge and teaching abilities.

In the field of education, teachers have been largely marginalized from legislative mandates and low salaries through the years. Their expert opinions have been ignored. A good example is when George W. Bush implemented No Child Left Behind with its unrealistic timelines of 100 percent proficiency for every child. It was a nightmare for teachers and learners, complete with its penalties. Yet, educators’ objections were discounted.

A part of the disrespect and a slap in the face for teachers given the importance and impact of their profession involves their income. Teacher recruitment has earnestly begun in many states, including Arkansas, due to a combination of low pay, a stressful job description and disrespect, forcing highly qualified people away from teaching.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson announced about a month ago that he intends to call lawmakers into special session of the General Assembly to cut taxes even further. Recently the governor added public school safety and security and teacher pay raises to the list of potential items for a possible special session. The session will begin Tuesday, Aug. 9. Educators across the state are hoping that some of the surplus could be implemented in a pay raise, but many Republicans seem to be resisting the idea. Democrats are in support of raising the base teacher pay during the session and providing revenue cuts that benefit working Arkansans. Some lawmakers have said they would rather address teacher pay during next year’s regular session.

The Legislature does not mandate salaries except for minimum levels. Act 170 of 2019 mandates minimum salaries of $33,800 for an Arkansas teacher with no experience. In Arkansas, school districts are mandated to post school employees’ salaries and contracts on the district website. According to the Arkansas Senate website, nationally, the average teacher salary in 2020 was $64,133.

Republicans have received some heat over their opposition to raising teacher pay at this time and thus recently came up with the Band-Aid approach of appeasement by pushing a one-time bonus expenditure down to districts and suggested they use half a billion dollars in Elementary and Secondary Education Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to offer these bonuses of $5,000 to teachers and $2,500 to classified staff.

In his Arkansas Legislative Update, Sen. Greg Leding, a Democrat, stated that the problem with the idea of using ESSER funds is “lawmakers had already voted to approve this latest round of ESSER funds at the June Arkansas Legislative Council meeting, meaning a number of districts had already made plans for it.

So Republicans had to first expunge last month’s vote, then vote to approve the funds with the added requirement that districts now present their plans for the funds to the legislature (and if they don’t plan to use their share of the ESSER funds for bonuses, they better come prepared to explain why).

Adding to the confusion created by expunging a month-old vote are questions as to whether the legislature even has the authority to do what it did (the governor sure doesn’t think so) and whether ESSER funds can even be used for bonuses like these.” Leding said that Democrats voted against the bonuses, not out of opposition to the idea, but out of concern for districts that had already made plans for the money. Democratic officials were also skeptical as to whether schools could even use these funds to provide one-time bonuses.

Perhaps legislators would rather teachers settle for the minimum salary of a glorified babysitter earning $11 an hour per child for 8 hours equaling $88 a day; multiplied by the 25 children in their class which equals $2,200 a day; multiplied the 178 days of school for a yearly salary of $391,600.

Not to be underestimated in this issue is the fact that it’s an election year and that provides a little leverage for teachers and those voters who love them in their decisions at the ballot box in November. Let’s not forget that teachers prepare the next generation of workers for every other profession and industry, even legislators.

Pam Lowe is the editor of the Clay County Courier in Corning. Her email address is pamlowe@claycountycourier.com