Qualified Arkansas teachers will receive part of nearly $10 million in bonuses by the end of June as part of the state’s education plan.
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said 3,000 teachers will receive $1,500 to $10,000 bonuses through the Merit Teacher Incentive Fund Program, a component of the Arkansas LEARNS Act. Statewide, the average bonus is approximately $3,300, and nearly three dozen educators will receive the maximum $10,000 bonus provided through the program. The law also raised the minimum starting salary for all Arkansas teachers to $50,000 a year.
“Great education starts with great teachers. That’s why one of my first acts as governor was to raise teacher pay across the board and reward our best educators,” Sanders said in a statement Tuesday. “This year’s merit bonuses will incentivize teachers to continue tackling our state’s toughest assignments and help every Arkansas student thrive.”
The teachers who will be receiving this bonus include those who “demonstrated outstanding growth in student performance, served as a mentor to aspiring teachers who participated in yearlong residencies or taught in a subject, geographical, or designation area experiencing a critical teacher shortage,” the governors office stated.
Officials said bonus recipients were identified using data from the Statewide Information System, the Educator Effectiveness System, and Student State Assessment Data.
For more information about the LEARNS Act or to see qualifications for bonuses, please visit https://learns.ade.arkansas.gov/
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