LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas Democrats have proposed two bills to raise teacher and staff pay.
House Bill 1268, sponsored by House Minority leader Tippi McCollough, called on legislators to raise the minimum starting salary for teachers to $50,000, in addition to an immediate $10,000 raise for existing teachers.
Senate Bill 149, sponsored by Senate Minority leader Greg Leding, asked lawmakers to raise the hourly pay for school staff like cafeteria workers and bus drivers to $15.
As an educator and leader of the Arkansas Education Association, Carol Fleming knows all too well about the challenges that teachers face.
"We are always digging deep into our pockets to ensure that we have those extra items for our students," Fleming explained.
However, it's proved to be costly. According to Fleming, the average starting salary for a teacher in Arkansas is $36,000.
She added that amount is simply not enough when you factor in educators' training and certifications.
"We say that we are offering world-class education to our students, why aren't we paying a world-class salary to our educators," Fleming said.
On Thursday, Arkansas Democrats aimed to change this by proposing the two bills.
"With a new administration, we promised the teachers we would fight for raises for them," McCollough explained.
She said this would cost the state $350 million with an additional $30 million to support teacher pay raises.
It's a bold proposal, in McCollough's words, but she at least hopes to gain support among Republicans.
"I'm sure that one of their talking points will be that we want to wait to see the Governor's plan or draft of the bill," McCollough said.
SB 149 was referred to the Senate Education Committee, and there has been no progress for HB 1268 as of Friday.
We are also keeping track of the education plan from Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders' office.