Democratic gubernatorial nominee Chris Jones on Tuesday unveiled his plan to provide one-time bonuses for teachers and staff in the public schools, support Gov. Asa Hutchinson's initial proposal to raise the state's minimum teacher pay from $36,000 to $46,000 a year, and pledged to raise the minimum teacher pay to $50,000 by the end of his first term as governor.
Jones said his Teacher Pay Plus Plan also would provide a $4,200 raise to teachers making at least $46,000 a year or more and provide additional state investments to support rural teachers and deferred building maintenance needs.
Under Act 170 of 2019, the state's minimum teacher salary is $34,900 in the 2021-22 school year and increases to $36,000 in the 2022-23 school year
At a news conference on a sidewalk in front of Little Rock Central High School, Jones called on the Republican-dominated Legislature and the Republican governor to use a portion of the state's record $1.6 billion general revenue surplus from fiscal 2022 that ended June 30 "to bring Arkansas out of the basement on teacher pay."
"When we invest in teachers, they invest in students, and teachers are worth the investment," the former executive director of the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub said.
"Right now, they deserve to know and see that they are a priority."
State Department of Education Secretary Johnny Key has pointed out that going into the 2022-23 school year, base salaries in Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee and Mississippi are all higher than Arkansas, and Mississippi just increased its base salary to $41,500 along with an approximately $5,000 salary increase for every teacher.
Jones said his plan would use $400 million of the state's general revenue surplus, with a sustainable total long-term funding structure, and provide a clear path to sustained funding for local school districts.
"I urge my general election opponent Sarah Huckabee Sanders to join in on this statewide discussion," he said in a news release.
"Our teachers and the kids in our classrooms deserve clear-cut support from all of us."
The campaign of Sanders, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, had no comment about Jones' proposal Tuesday afternoon.
Sanders has said her top priorities as governor will be education, workforce development and economic development, and she wants to begin phasing out the state's individual income tax. She hasn't yet outlined a plan to raise teachers' pay.
She is the daughter of former Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee and a former White House press secretary for President Donald Trump.
Earlier this month, Hutchinson said he wouldn't put a teacher salary increase on the agenda for the special session he intends to call starting Aug. 8 to consider tax cuts because of the lack of support in the Republican-dominated Legislature for a teacher pay increase in the special session.
The House and Senate Democrats have signaled they support raising teacher salaries in the special session. Some Republicans in the Legislature have said they support considering teacher raises in the special session as well.
Several Republican legislative leaders have said they want to wait for the House and Senate education committees to complete their biennial education adequacy review this fall and consider raising teacher salaries in the 2023 regular session, starting in January.
Several weeks ago, the governor initially proposed raising teacher salaries to a minimum of $46,000 and implementing at least a $4,000 salary increase. At that point, Senate President Pro Tempore Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, sharply criticized the proposal, saying it would cost $333 million to implement and that's too costly.
Hutchinson subsequently trimmed his initial proposal to increase the minimum teacher salary to $42,000 a year and to provide a $4,000 increase to every teacher for the 2022-23 school year.
The trimmed-down proposal's total cost is $150 million for fiscal 2023 that started Friday and ends June 30, 2023, and would come out of the fiscal 2022 surplus, according to Key. For fiscal 2024, the public school fund would need $140 million in ongoing general revenue under this proposal and the $60 million in additional needed funds would come from combined growth in the educational adequacy fund, educational excellence trust fund and uniform rate of tax under this trimmed-down proposal.
According to Jones' campaign, his Teacher Pay Plus Plan would include:
• Providing a one-time surplus bonus for teachers and staff. A one-time bonus of $2,500 for teachers this year would cost $85 million of the state's general revenue surplus and a one-time bonus of $1,000 for staff members this year would cost $37 million of the state's general revenue surplus, according to his campaign.
• Raising minimum teacher pay to $46,000 per year in August, and then to $50,000 per year by the end of the first term of the Jones administration, and a $4,200 raise for those who already make $46,000 or more a year.
• Closing the gaps on the rural teacher shortage with the creation of a rural teacher incentive program financed with $53 million of the state's general revenue surplus.
• Providing a deferred maintenance building program for local schools financed with $75 million of the state's general revenue surplus.
• Creating stability funds for local schools to address unexpected economic challenges financed with $150 million of the general revenue surplus.
At Jones' news conference, Max Parker, a teacher at Forrest High School, questioned whether it makes more sense for state lawmakers to give tax cuts to a billionaire in the special session or to give raises to teachers who are going to invest in their local communities.
"If you want to place a bet, betting on teachers is the right economic bet," Parker said.