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Teacher rally brings awareness to issues affecting public education across state

Participants will gather at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary around noon before beginning the march.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - Saturday morning, Oct. 20 hundreds of people are expected to march to the Arkansas State Capitol, to bring awareness to the issues currently affecting public education across the state.

Participants will gather at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary around noon before beginning the march.

Organizers said the rally is primarily to ensure students across the state are being set up for success through appropriate funding for public schools.

Cathy Koehler, the president of the Arkansas Education Association said Saturday's rally is also to encourage voters to keep Arkansas students on their minds before heading to the polls.

"We want candidates to be elected in this election cycle who are committed to students and public education," said Koehler.

According to Koehler, part of ensuring students' success is by making sure teachers' needs are also being met.

"We need to address the continuing growth in the gap between the teacher's certified salaries and the cost of living,” said Koehler. “Because the adjustment rates over the last few years that have been funded have not met that."

Compared to past election periods, Koehler said, there's a new topic that could profoundly impact teachers, and in turn affect students also.

"We were not anticipating this at the beginning but it's also to remind these individuals to keep their hands off our retirement," said Koehler.

If the defined benefit pension plan is changed or removed, Koehler said, it could cause many educators to leave the public school system.

"I hear from teachers all across the state, from education support professionals all across the state, that that will be a bridge too far."

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