The Little Rock School District is seeking approval from state Education Secretary Johnny Key to pay substitute teachers $180 a day in the event of a work stoppage or interruption of services by the district's full-time employees, including teachers.
The higher-than-usual pay, if authorized, would begin on the second day of any work interruption and each day thereafter for the duration of the "declared emergency situation."
Superintendent Mike Poore sent the requested substitute pay increase to Key for approval. Key acts in place of a school board in the state-controlled school district.
The $180 a day rate is just short of the $189 a day paid first-year teachers with a bachelor degree for a 190-day work year.
The request for special pay rate comes just days before the Oct. 31 expiration of the professional negotiated agreement between the district and the Little Rock Education Association employee union.
The Arkansas Board of Education and Key have directed Poore to no longer recognize the union as the exclusive bargaining agent of employees and discontinue all collective bargaining with the organization for a successor employee work agreement.
Members of the Little Rock Education Association have only said they have talked about options, including a strike, but have not publicly committed to a strike.
The proposal to Key on substitute pay also includes a draft document that would instruct nonessential district administrators to work in district schools in the event of a strike or face disciplinary action, including termination.
Metro on 10/21/2019