Executive Viewpoint

Dr. Richard Abernathy AAEA Executive Director

School leaders can be proud of the work our legislative leaders have done with the Adequacy Report. As you know, this report comes out every two years right before the legislative session. It is worked on by the Senate and House Education Committees and then voted on and published by November 1.

Why am I happy with the recommendations in the report? Several reasons. For starters, the cost of living adjustment has been recommended at 2.33% each of the next two years. This is the largest increase in foundation dollars since 2007. School funding in Arkansas has been lagging behind as we move further away from the Lake View lawsuit. Our COLA has ranged from a high of 2.42% in 2007 to a low of .94% in 2017. Schools have been struggling trying to meet the demands of educating our kids and raising salaries to the point that something was about to break. Small school districts have really struggled with the funding as the minimum salaries have continued to climb. Adequacy recommendations should really help schools in the upcoming years.

Categorical funding has also increased with ALE, ESA and ELL funding levels. This was the first time ESA funding levels have been increased in several years. Of course, many of you have personnel who are paid using ESA dollars and as those funds have remained stagnant, decisions were having to be made due to the lack of funds. The Adequacy Committee recommended a new pot of money for schools to help with salaries. Fifteen million dollars has been recommended to distribute towards teacher salaries for every school district and this is above the 2.33% foundation increase. Legislators will decide during the legislative session on how those dollars will be distributed, but it is designed to be distributed based on school size, value of a mill, and household income. In other words, the small poor schools will receive the bulk of the funding.

The recommendations are great, and much appreciated. But I will also say the policy makers and community patrons have come to realize exactly what the public schools mean to their community and economy. There is nothing like a pandemic to drive that point home. If you want to shut down the economy, then just shut down the schools. The old attitude of schools not being a major economic driver is over….as it should be!

There are many legislators who deserve recognition for their work on Adequacy, and I will not try to name all of them. But just a few would include the chairs Representative Cozart and Senator English and the leadership with Speaker Shepard and Senator Hendren. The Governor’s office was also supportive of funding schools even after cutting the state budget last spring. And of course, there are many other legislators working hard behind the scenes such as Representatives Eubanks, Evans, and Vaught, and Senators Elliott, Sturch, Cheatham and many others. So, just because I didn’t name someone doesn’t mean they were not working on this. Be sure to thank your legislator for recognizing the needs of schools and trying to fund them appropriately.