In a 34-0 vote, the Arkansas Senate approved a bill Monday that would increase base teacher pay in Arkansas.
The Senate sent the governor House Bill 1623 by Rep. Bruce Cozart, R-Hot Springs, that increases the starting salary for new teachers and increases the base pay for teachers at the higher pay grades.
The salary bump was one of a handful of recommendations from the biennial educational adequacy study required under the Arkansas Supreme Court's Lake View ruling that mandates that every school district provide an adequate education to all students.
HB1623 would increase base teacher pay for starting teachers, who have no experience, over a two-year period to $31,000. In the 2015-16 school year, the base pay would increase by $878 from $29,244 to $30,122. In the 2016-17 school year, the pay would increase by $878 from $30,122 to $31,000.
The cost to the state would be $18 million in fiscal 2016 and $16.6 million in fiscal 2017.
Metro on 03/31/2015