State slow to curb carbon emissions, report shows

Carbon emissions from the energy sector have been on the decline nationwide, according to a report last week from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

That hasn’t exactly been the case in Arkansas, where two carbon-dioxide emitting coal-fired plants have opened in the past 10 years, bucking a national trend of closures of such plants.

The data show Arkansas invested in coal and produced more energy-related carbon emissions but a downward trend in emissions in the state has begun as those investments have shifted to renewable energy and natural gas along with the rest of the nation.

Other states had little carbon emissions from electricity generation and had more from the burning of petroleum in manufacturing and from fossil fuels used to heat and cool buildings.

A pending legal settlement in federal court could trigger the closure of the state’s two largest coal-fired plants, principally owned

“I began to reflect. I began to look deeper and dig deeper into what my kids need,” she said.

The district’s Personnel Policy Committee for teachers has recommended another $2,500 be paid to each of the 82 board-certified teachers at a one-time cost of $205,000.

The committee also recommends each newly board certified teacher receive an annual stipend of $1,000 — a total of $5,000 over the course of the five years certification is active. District officials estimate eight teachers would become board-certified each year.

Superintendent John L Colbert said he couldn’t endorse the committee’s recommendation until administrators examine it in the context of the district’s entire budget.

Earning National Board certification is a lot of work but is very much worth it, Hagers said. She cited a Harvard University study that showed students of board certified teachers in Los Angeles gained roughly the equivalent of two months of additional instruction in math and one month in English language arts.

Andrew Young, an English teacher at Woodland Junior High School, said he wouldn’t have received Fayetteville’s teacher of the year award for 2018 if not for what he has learned by going through the process of certification.

“The way I think about things and plan things is very different now,” Young said.

Megan Hurley, a School Board member, expressed some skepticism the certification really improves teaching abilities. She said she wasn’t certain the program deserves the kind of reward teachers are requesting.

“What’s challenging for me about this question is what distinguishes National Board certification from all other proofs of teacher excellence,” Hurley said.

Board member Nika Waitsman said she generally likes the idea of rewarding teachers for obtaining additional training. She added, however, the school board has made it a priority to give the district’s 800 teachers raises as often as possible, and increasing the stipend for a small set of teachers would make that more difficult.

As for Northwest Arkansas’ other large school districts, Bentonville gives board certified teachers an annual $3,000 stipend. Rogers pays $1,000 per year. Gentry, a much smaller district, pays $2,000 a year.

Springdale does not provide a stipend, though the state’s system is set up to favor teachers in districts like Springdale. Act 937 of 2017 shifted the biggest bonuses to board certified teachers who work in high-poverty schools in high-poverty districts or high-poverty charter schools. The state gives those teachers a $10,000 stipend each year for up to 10 years.

A high-poverty school or school district is defined as one in which at least 70 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Springdale’s poverty rate is just over 70 percent. Fayetteville’s rate is 37 percent.

Springdale has 100 teachers going through the board certification process, Hagers said.