LITTLE ROCK -- Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Monday signed legislation to raise the target median annual pay for public school teachers by $2,000.
Hutchinson signed identical House and Senate bills that raise the target median pay for teachers to $51,822, starting with the 2021-2022 school year.
Hutchinson said the increase will especially help rural districts that have not been able to raise teacher pay. recently.
"This is an effort to have competitive teacher salaries all across the state of Arkansas," Hutchinson said before signing the measures. The legislation sets aside $25 million for districts that are below the new median teacher salary.