Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
Act 850 of the Regular Session
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State of Arkansas 1
94th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2023 HOUSE BILL 1795 3
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By: Representative G. Hodges 5
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For An Act To Be Entitled 7
AN ACT TO AMEND THE MIN IMUM TEACHER COMPENS ATION 8
SCHEDULE UNDER THE P UBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003 9
TO INCLUDE OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CH ARTER SCHOOLS; 10
AND FOR OTHER PURPOS ES. 11
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Subtitle 14
TO AMEND THE MINIMUM TEACHER COMPENSATION 15
SCHEDULE UNDER THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING 16
ACT OF 2003 TO INCLUDE OPEN -ENROLLMENT 17
PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS. 18
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 21
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 6 -17-2403 is amended to read as follows: 23
6-17-2403. Minimum teacher compensation schedule — Definition. 24
(a)(1) The board of directors in each public school district and open-25
enrollment public charter school in the state shall pay classroom teachers a 26
minimum base salary of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). 27
(2) To be eligible for funds to implement the minimum base 28
salary under this section, a each public school district and open-enrollment 29
public charter school shall: 30
(A) Revise each teacher contract or employment agreement 31
by the 2023-2024 school year to require t hat each teacher in the public 32
school district or open-enrollment public charter school is employed at least 33
one hundred ninety (190) school days each year; 34
(B)(i) Not adopt a personnel policy or incorporate terms 35
into a personnel contract that provide more rights to personnel than those 36 HB1795
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provided under state law in effect during the term of the personnel contract. 1
(ii) This subdivision (a)(2)(B) shall not be 2
interpreted as: 3
(a) Denying personnel rights provided by other 4
laws, including withou t limitation due process; or 5
(b) Prohibiting a public school district board 6
of directors or open-enrollment public charter school governing body from 7
specifying in its policy the timelines and processes for providing notice and 8
an opportunity for a h earing as provided under § 6 -13-636(d); 9
(C) Not have a waiver of teacher salary requirements; and 10
(D) Adopt an employee salary schedule. 11
(b)(1) For the 2023 -2024 school year, each teacher shall be paid a 12
salary that is at least two thousand dolla rs ($2,000) greater than his or her 13
current salary as of September 1, 2022. 14
(2) To be eligible for funds to implement the increase under 15
subdivision (b)(1) of this section, a each public school district and open-16
enrollment public charter school shall: 17
(A) Revise each teacher contract or employment agreement 18
by the 2023-2024 school year to require that each teacher in the public 19
school district or open-enrollment public charter school is employed at least 20
one hundred ninety (190) school days each year ; 21
(B)(i) Not adopt a personnel policy or incorporate terms 22
into a personnel contract that provide more rights to personnel than those 23
provided under state law in effect during the term of the personnel contract. 24
(ii) This subdivision (b)(2)(B) sha ll not be 25
interpreted as denying personnel rights provided by other laws, including 26
without limitation due process; and 27
(C) Not have a waiver of teacher salary requirements. 28
(c) To be eligible for funds to implement the salary increases under 29
subsections (a) and (b) of this section, a each public school district and 30
open-enrollment public charter school shall be open for on -site, in-person 31
instruction for at least: 32
(1) One hundred seventy -eight (178) days; or 33
(2) One thousand sixty -eight (1,068) hours. 34
(d) For purposes of the salary requirements described in this section, 35
a "teacher" means an individual employed by a public school or an open-36 HB1795
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enrollment public charter school in the State of Arkansas in a full -time 1
position that requires a valid Arkansas teaching license, including without 2
limitation a principal or assistant principal, unless the public school or 3
open-enrollment public charter school has been issued a waiver by the State 4
Board of Education. 5
(e)(1) The minimum teacher compensatio n requirements under this 6
section do not apply to a part -time teacher or part -time paraprofessional 7
employed by a public school district or an open-enrollment public charter 8
school to work in an adult education program. 9
(2) The minimum teacher compensation schedule for a part -time 10
teacher or part-time paraprofessional employed by a public school district to 11
work in an adult education program shall be established by the Adult 12
Education Section and approved by the Director of the Division of Workforce 13
Services. 14
(f)(1) The funds allocated by the General Assembly for additional 15
teacher compensation under this section shall only be used for teacher 16
salaries. 17
(2) To qualify for funding appropriated under this section, 18
public school districts shall: 19
(A)(i) Utilize an amount of state funds equal to eighty 20
percent (80%) or more of the amount allocated for school -level personnel 21
salaries, according to the adequacy funding matrix recommended by the Senate 22
Committee on Education and the House Committee on Education for the previous 23
school year, for teacher salaries and teacher raises. 24
(ii) If meeting the requirement under subdivision 25
(f)(2)(A)(i) of this section would impact student safety or potentially cause 26
a public school district to go into fiscal distress under the Arkansas Fiscal 27
Assessment and Accountability Program, § 6 -20-1901 et seq., the public school 28
district may apply to the State Board of Education for a waiver from this 29
requirement. 30
(iii) If meeting th e requirement under subdivision 31
(f)(2)(A)(i) of this section would negatively impact student safety or the 32
fiscal stability or educational programs offered by an open -enrollment public 33
charter school, the open -enrollment public charter school may apply to the 34
charter authorizing panel for a waiver from this requirement ; and 35
(B)(i) Certify with the Division of Elementary and 36 HB1795
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Secondary Education the number of certified teachers and the certified 1
teachers' current contract salaries for each school year. 2
(ii) A fund shall be created by the Department of 3
Education to hold and distribute revenues authorized by this section for 4
teacher minimum salary levels and teacher raises. 5
(3) Each public school district and open-enrollment public 6
charter school shall: 7
(A) Report the total amount of state funds used for 8
teacher salaries to the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education; and 9
(B) Publish the information required under subdivision 10
(f)(3)(A) of this section on the public school district's or open-enrollment 11
public charter school's website. 12
(g) This section shall not be interpreted to limit a public school 13
district or an open-enrollment public charter school from creating a salary 14
schedule for the public school district or open-enrollment public charter 15
school. 16
(h) The State Board of Education may promulgate rules to implement 17
this subchapter. 18
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APPROVED: 4/13/23 21
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