G'morning, #arpx. We're tuning in to Joint Ed at 10am to hear reports on LEARNS merit pay, teacher retention, and more. Follow along with us or stream here.👇#arleg sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00284/Harmony/…
Some context: The LEARNS Act replaced previous pay schedules for teachers based on experience. Now, educators must vie for bonuses from a limited pot of $ based on certain criteria established under LEARNS. Today should be enlightening. #arpx #arleg
Shift in agenda items, looks like ed health insurance funding presentation is up first.
Rep for the program says that, though AR is in a good spot this year for teacher health insurance funding, it's not looking good for the future. Expenses will be higher than revenue beginning in 2025. Yikes. #arpx #arleg
"While things look strong financially in 2024, by 2027, it quickly becomes a problem." #arpx #arleg
Though we haven't gotten to the "why" behind the quick decline in teacher health care funding, this feels familiar: AR is chipping away at the state income tax, which means less $ for state services and programs. #arpx #arleg
More cash in the pockets of corporate big wigs could mean trouble for the rest of Arkansas, including hardworking folks like public school teachers. We fund what we care about. #arpx #arleg
call us crazy but can we pleeeeease avoid jeopardizing the health insurance of our public educators? #arpx #arleg
So that's it for the health insurance presentation #arpx #arleg up next is Sec. Olivia's presentation of the merit pay program.
Out the gate, Olivia patting dept on the back for creating work groups for feedback on what the criteria for the merit pay should be. #arpx #arleg
A good reminder that running public education is not the same as running a business. Educators already bust their butts for their students and schools. Why add merit pay and create a system of scarcity and animosity? #arpx #arleg
If you're an educator and want to weigh in on the merit pay program, we want to hear your thoughts! #arpx #arleg
more merit pay data from Dept. of Ed #arpx #arleg
This is interesting -- average experience of teachers receiving merit bonuses is 14 years. #arpx #arleg
Sen. Chesterfield: We had 3,000 educators get merit pay. How many teachers currently do we have?
Dept: 30,000
Chesterfield: so 10% of those teaching... #arpx #arleg
Chesterfield: How many others got raises?
Oliva: That depends on the district. #arpx #arleg
Chesterfield: So folks will work for the same salary for at least five years. How does this affect retention? Most folks won't work for the same compensation for years with no increase in salary? #arpx #arleg
Oliva: We will need to figure it out with #arleg. Districts will need to figure it out, too. #arpx
Sidebar: we have heard of districts looking into millage rate increases to offset the cost for their teacher salaries. #arleg passed LEARNS but didn't adequately fund the salary bumps, leaving many districts out to dry. #arpx
Oliva says there may have been reporting kinks that kept certain educators out of the running for merit bonuses. #arpx #arleg
Sen. Hammer: if we identify the barriers for educators from getting the merit bonuses, how are we gonna help them?
Oliva: roster verification, good data keeping, etc. #arpx #arleg
Oliva blames bad data collection and monitoring before he took over for why some folks missed out. Oliva says the program will only get more sophisticated w better data collecting. #arpx #arleg
Hammer: if every teacher hit the mark for merit bonuses, how do we pay for it?
Oliva: there is a ceiling right now, so we'd have to increase the pot of $ for the bonuses. #arpx #arleg
Oliva goes on a bit of a tirade about 4 day school weeks with struggling schools. Says districts need to do what's best for students, not employees. #arpx #arleg
And with that, Oliva's presentation is done. #arpx #arleg
Next up: report on teacher recruitment and retention. #arpx #arleg
Average retention rate for teachers in 2023 was 74%. There is not historical data to do a lot of comparing with past years.
average teaching experience based on region #arpx #arleg
Here's a good look at regional differences in retention rates. #arpx #arleg
Where the state is facing the highest teacher shortages by subject. #arpx #arleg
shortages based on region💔 #arpx #arleg
Unsurprisingly, teacher retention is harder in districts with higher numbers of reduced or free school lunches and districts with higher minority populations. #arpx #arleg
housing has a big impact on teacher recruitment in the state! #arpx #arleg
Almost half of AR teachers (45%) who did the survey say they are worried about job security b/c of student performance #arpx #arleg
#1 reason for teachers leaving the profession were stress and workload and LACK OF RESPECT FOR THEIR PROFESSION! #arpx #arleg
That's a wrap on the BLR's presentation on teacher retention #arpx #arleg
Some #arleg members are taking issue with only 5,000 teachers being surveyed instead of all 33,000 teachers. Who wants to tell them about sample sizes? #arpx
BLR rep showing a lot of patience in answering their concerns about skewed data... #arpx #arleg
Sen. Hammer saying it's unfair that #arleg is criticized for not listening to teachers if only 5,000 are filling out this survey. Y'all. #arpx
Just for reference, the Arkansas Poll, the state's annual political poll, surveyed 801 respondents in 2023. #arpx #arleg
and on that note, committee is in recess.
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Good morning folks! We are tuned into the ALC Admin Rules today, where among other things, legislators are considering the controversial (ehem, bad) rule against electronic voter registration. The rule prohibits @GetLoudArkansas from using e-signatures to register voters.
While we are technically part of the *media*, let's talk about the interesting ways news outlets have framed the fight over direct democracy and the Arkansas Abortion Amendment. 🧵
Here's a headline from KUAR from Thursday, the day before we got the SC order asking for briefing.
Technically, this headline is "accurate." AFLG doesn't have enough volunteer signatures to get on the ballot! No one is disputing that.
BUT.
That's not AT ALL what's at issue. And indeed, the misdirection continues: here's the first line of the story.
That is, quite literally, what the Court fight is over: whether or not AFLG does, in fact, have the signatures. The *whole issue* is whether the paid canvasser signatures will be added to the volunteer signatures and, therefore, whether AFLG is entitled to a cure period.
Good morning folks! We are posted up at the State Board of Election Commissioners! There are some procedural/normal issues they'll be dealing with according to the posted agenda, but the big item today is consideration of the new rule regarding voter registration.
The rule would ban electronic signatures on voter registration forms, making Arkansas only one of 8 states that do not have some kind of online/electronic voter registration, and would drastically limit access to the ballot box.
@GetLoudArkansas had registered 500+ people with an innovative online portal before folks decided that more people voting was in fact not what the state wanted to do. Their registration status remains unclear.
We reflected on what the first year without Roe looked like.
At the time, we felt very hopeless: a hostile state legislature, a dire national landscape for abortion rights, and an atmosphere of defeat.
How quickly things change. We've been so rejuvenated by the outpouring of support for the Abortion Amendment. From volunteers to healthcare providers to folks who have signed from all sides of the political aisle, we have been overjoyed at the support for the Amendment.