Arkansas 2023 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HB1795 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
2		-	Act 850 of the Regular Session
3	2		TNL442 3/29/2023 5:52:00 PM TNL442
4	3
5	4		State of Arkansas 1
6	5		94th General Assembly A Bill 2
7	6		Regular Session, 2023 HOUSE BILL 1795 3
8	7		4
9	8		By: Representative G. Hodges 5
10	9		6
11	10		For An Act To Be Entitled 7
12	11		AN ACT TO AMEND THE MINIMUM TEACHER COMPENSATION 8
13	12		SCHEDULE UNDER THE P UBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003 9
14	13		TO INCLUDE OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CH ARTER SCHOOLS; 10
15	14		AND FOR OTHER PURPOS ES. 11
16	15		12
17	16		13
18	17		Subtitle 14
19	18		TO AMEND THE MINIMUM TEACHER COMPENSATION 15
20	19		SCHEDULE UNDER THE PUBLIC SCHOO L FUNDING 16
21	20		ACT OF 2003 TO INCLUDE OPEN -ENROLLMENT 17
22	21		PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS. 18
23	22		19
24	23		20
25	24		BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 21
26	25		22
27	26		SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 6 -17-2403 is amended to read as follows: 23
28	27		6-17-2403. Minimum teacher compensation schedule — Definition. 24
29	28		(a)(1) The board of directors in each public school district and open-25
30	29		enrollment public charter school in the state shall pay classroom teachers a 26
31	30		minimum base salary of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). 27
32	31		(2) To be eligible for f unds to implement the minimum base 28
33	32		salary under this section, a each public school district and open-enrollment 29
34	33		public charter school shall: 30
35	34		(A) Revise each teacher contract or employment agreement 31
36	35		by the 2023-2024 school year to require that each teac her in the public 32
37	36		school district or open-enrollment public charter school is employed at least 33
38	37		one hundred ninety (190) school days each year; 34
39	38		(B)(i) Not adopt a personnel policy or incorporate terms 35
40	39		into a personnel contract that provide more rights to personnel than those 36 HB1795
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44	43
45	44		provided under state law in effect during the term of the personnel contract. 1
46	45		(ii) This subdivision (a)(2)(B) shall not be 2
47	46		interpreted as: 3
48	47		(a) Denying personnel rights provided by other 4
49	48		laws, including without limitation due process; or 5
50	49		(b) Prohibiting a public school district board 6
51	50		of directors or open-enrollment public charter school governing body from 7
52	51		specifying in its policy the timelines and processes for providing notice and 8
53	52		an opportunity for a hearing as pro vided under § 6-13-636(d); 9
54	53		(C) Not have a waiver of teacher salary requirements; and 10
55	54		(D) Adopt an employee salary schedule. 11
56	55		(b)(1) For the 2023 -2024 school year, each teacher shall be paid a 12
57	56		salary that is at least two thousand dollars ($2,000) g reater than his or her 13
58	57		current salary as of September 1, 2022. 14
59	58		(2) To be eligible for funds to implement the increase under 15
60	59		subdivision (b)(1) of this section, a each public school district and open-16
61	60		enrollment public charter school shall: 17
62	61		(A) Revise each teacher contract or employment agreement 18
63	62		by the 2023-2024 school year to require that each teacher in the public 19
64	63		school district or open-enrollment public charter school is employed at least 20
65	64		one hundred ninety (190) school days each year; 21
66	65		(B)(i) Not adopt a personnel policy or incorporate terms 22
67	66		into a personnel contract that provide more rights to personnel than those 23
68	67		provided under state law in effect during the term of the personnel contract. 24
69	68		(ii) This subdivision (b)(2)(B) shall not be 25
70	69		interpreted as denying personnel rights provided by other laws, including 26
71	70		without limitation due process; and 27
72	71		(C) Not have a waiver of teacher salary requirements. 28
73	72		(c) To be eligible for funds to implement the salary increases under 29
74	73		subsections (a) and (b) of this section, a each public school district and 30
75	74		open-enrollment public charter school shall be open for on -site, in-person 31
76	75		instruction for at least: 32
77	76		(1) One hundred seventy -eight (178) days; or 33
78	77		(2) One thousand sixty -eight (1,068) hours. 34
79	78		(d) For purposes of the salary requirements described in this section, 35
80	79		a "teacher" means an individual employed by a public school or an open-36 HB1795
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85	84		enrollment public charter school in the State of Arkansas in a full -time 1
86	85		position that requires a valid Arkansas teac hing license, including without 2
87	86		limitation a principal or assistant principal, unless the public school or 3
88	87		open-enrollment public charter school has been issued a waiver by the State 4
89	88		Board of Education. 5
90	89		(e)(1) The minimum teacher compensation requirement s under this 6
91	90		section do not apply to a part -time teacher or part -time paraprofessional 7
92	91		employed by a public school district or an open-enrollment public charter 8
93	92		school to work in an adult education program. 9
94	93		(2) The minimum teacher compensation schedule for a part -time 10
95	94		teacher or part-time paraprofessional employed by a public school district to 11
96	95		work in an adult education program shall be established by the Adult 12
97	96		Education Section and approved by the Director of the Division of Workforce 13
98	97		Services. 14
99	98		(f)(1) The funds allocated by the General Assembly for additional 15
100	99		teacher compensation under this section shall only be used for teacher 16
101	100		salaries. 17
102	101		(2) To qualify for funding appropriated under this section, 18
103	102		public school districts shall: 19
104	103		(A)(i) Utilize an amount of state funds equal to eighty 20
105	104		percent (80%) or more of the amount allocated for school -level personnel 21
106	105		salaries, according to the adequacy funding matrix recommended by the Senate 22
107	106		Committee on Education and the House Committee on Education for the previous 23
108	107		school year, for teacher salaries and teacher raises. 24
109	108		(ii) If meeting the requirement under subdivision 25
110	109		(f)(2)(A)(i) of this section would impact student safety or potentially cause 26
111	110		a public school district to go into fiscal distress under the Arkansas Fiscal 27
112	111		Assessment and Accountability Program, § 6 -20-1901 et seq., the public school 28
113	112		district may apply to the State Board of Education for a waiver from this 29
114	113		requirement. 30
115	114		(iii) If meeting th e requirement under subdivision 31
116	115		(f)(2)(A)(i) of this section would negatively impact student safety or the 32
117	116		fiscal stability or educational programs offered by an open -enrollment public 33
118	117		charter school, the open -enrollment public charter school may apply to the 34
119	118		charter authorizing panel for a waiver from this requirement ; and 35
120	119		(B)(i) Certify with the Division of Elementary and 36 HB1795
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124	123
125	124		Secondary Education the number of certified teachers and the certified 1
126	125		teachers' current contract salaries for each school year. 2
127	126		(ii) A fund shall be created by the Department of 3
128	127		Education to hold and distribute revenues authorized by this section for 4
129	128		teacher minimum salary levels and teacher raises. 5
130	129		(3) Each public school district and open-enrollment public 6
131	130		charter school shall: 7
132	131		(A) Report the total amount of state funds used for 8
133	132		teacher salaries to the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education; and 9
134	133		(B) Publish the information required under subdivision 10
135	134		(f)(3)(A) of this section on the public school district's or open-enrollment 11
136	135		public charter school's website. 12
137	136		(g) This section shall not be interpreted to limit a public school 13
138	137		district or an open-enrollment public charter school from creating a salary 14
139	138		schedule for the public school district or open-enrollment public charter 15
140	139		school. 16
141	140		(h) The State Board of Education may promulgate rules to implement 17
142	141		this subchapter. 18
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145		-	~~APPROVED: 4/13/23~~ 21
	144	+	21
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