Cite as 351 Ark. 31 (2002)
Judge Kilgore concluded in his 2001 order that the "State has a remarkably serious problem with student performance." We agree.
Arkansas' entry level for teacher salaries is last when compared to our eight bordering states, and Arkansas spends twenty percent less than the national average for teachers across the board. The entry level salary for Arkansas school districts bordering Memphis, Tennessee, was about $5,695 less than that offered in Memphis school districts, and for more experienced teachers the differential was almost $6,000. A similar disparity exists for beginning salaries between school districts in Texarkana, Arkansas, and Texarkana, Texas. Arkansas school districts pay about $4,000 less than those in Texas.
Serious disparities also exist in teacher salaries among school districts within the State of Arkansas. One example given by the trial court was the science teacher with two masters degrees and forty-one years' teaching experience receiving a salary of $31,500 in the Lake View School District, while a teacher with comparable degrees and experience received $43,524 in the Fort Smith School District.
Poor school districts with the most ill-prepared students are losing their teachers due to low pay. Both recruitment and retention of teachers are difficult in those districts. The Bentonville School District, which is not impoverished, will lose fifteen percent of its teachers in the next three years due to retirement. Low pay and competition from the private sector present real obstacles to teacher recruitment in that district.
Dr. Raymond Simon, Director of the Department of Education, had this to say about the salary crisis:
MR. HELLER: And I wanted to ask you what else you — you think we should be doing in Arkansas to address students' above and beyond ACTAPP?
DR. SIMON: I think we're facing — I think the most critical thing we need to addres now is the issue of teacher's salaries. ACTAAP, Smart Start, Smart Step, all of that depends primarily on the classroom teacher to function. And we are beginning to see a crisis now in our State of quality teachers, some retiring.
