Gov. Asa Hutchinson focused on economic development and teacher salaries when speaking to superintendents and school administrators with the Arkansas Rural Education Association at Lakeside High School on Wednesday.
AREA hosted about 125-130 districts for its annual conference, which focused on positive and innovative leadership according to executive director, Dale Query.
"The governor talked about economic development and how it goes hand in hand with education," Query told The Sentinel-Record. "He talked about his coding initiative and how that has brought new companies to Arkansas, and how that has a ripple effect of if we bring in one company others will follow."
Query said the governor also shared his plan of raising teacher salaries across the state.
Hutchinson told The Sentinel-Record later that the future of Arkansas' economic growth "is going to be determined by the efforts we make today to equip the next generation of Arkansans.
"Whether our students choose to learn a trade, become teachers, or create the next leading tech company, it's critical that we provide them with every educational opportunity and work to retain their gifts and talents right here in Arkansas," he said.
The governor said he has consistently focused on the issue of raising teacher salaries across the state during his time in office.
"The minimum salary for new teachers has been increased each year I have been governor," he said. "I intend to present a plan to the General Assembly that will raise the minimum salary for new teachers over the next four years -- from $31,400 to $36,000. This will give Arkansas the highest minimum starting teacher salary of all our surrounding states, which will allow us to retain our homegrown teachers and help us compete for the talented young educators in other states."
Query said the AREA definitely supports his initiative to raise teacher salaries, especially in the smaller schools across the state.
"The governor commented that obviously there's a lot of competition for state dollars ... obviously, we have to have a balanced budget, so we are just going to help with his initiative to help bring more people to the profession," Query said. "Pay is not the only reason because teaching is very rewarding. But there are a lot of expenses that go into teacher preparation. We are very happy to see the governor working on raising salaries in the state."
The governor also said he was encouraged by the number of schools who have implemented the department of education's reading initiative.
"I learned that more than half of the schools represented at the AREA Conference have implemented the Reading Initiative for Student Excellence (RISE) to improve students' reading skills," he said. "It was encouraging to see so many dedicated educators who are committed to creating a culture of reading in Arkansas."
Local on 07/13/2018