Unintended consequences

LEARNS Act’s details leave plenty of questions

The 145-page LEARNS Act addresses several topics that will impact the function of public schools and education for the schoolchildren of Arkansas. The most prominent of these are salaries for currently employed teachers and vouchers that will provide funds to parents electing to remove their children from public schools to send them to private schools or to home schooling.

The act is certainly positive for new teachers who could earn a minimum of $50,000 for their first year. Questions remain as to the required minimum wage for experienced teachers like those with advanced graduate degrees and no experience. To some extent this problem has been recognized by giving currently employed teachers who qualify a $2,000 raise.

The Arkansas Legislature, however, has evidently failed to consider what impact this will have on the salaries of current teachers. From published data, we can compute the average salaries for employed teachers. For those with a BA degree and 15 years of experience the mean is $45,761. For those with master’s degrees the average is $50,540. The difference in the averages is about $5,000. Under the LEARNS Act, the average holder of a bachelor’s degree will make $50,000. The average master’s holder will make $52,540. The average pay differential is cut in half. Veteran teachers and their supporters in each district could well expect that the entire wage structure be revamped and shifted upward.

The Legislature has also failed to resolve how each district will pay for any of these pay raises. We do not know the individual salaries of those who teach in our public schools; however, we can compute the average salary by district. Current salary levels in Arkansas’ 234 public school districts vary widely. For example, teachers with a bachelor’s degree and 15 years of experience can earn $61,237 in the Little Rock School District. In contrast, the current maximum a teacher with these same credentials could earn in 58 other districts is $42,750. That is a range in salaries of $18,487. For those with a bachelor’s degree, the range of maximum salaries among districts is $29,408. For those with a master’s degree and no experience, the range among districts is $12,905. Those differences largely exist because of variations in property taxes dedicated to school districts. Thus, if one wants to establish a minimum $50,000 salary and the local voters won’t approve property tax increases, the state will have to provide additional funds. Since property taxes are only levied via the local ballot box, the state will have to get more money (raise taxes?) or renege on the LEARNS Act promise.

Private schools must compete with public schools for part of the state’s 32,666 registered teachers. Thus, increases in teacher salaries for public school teachers will pressure private schools to increase the amount they pay their teachers. As their costs rise, their tuition will likely rise and diminish the value of the vouchers.

The LEARNS Act provides vouchers to those who wish to leave a public school and enroll in a private school in the future. There is nothing in the act about financial support for the parents of more than 15,000 children already enrolled in private schools. It is not clear. Do vouchers go only to those who decide to make that change in the future?

Today, nearly 50% of the number enrolled in private schools are in three of the largest counties: Pulaski, Benton and Washington. About 90% of enrollees reside in 20 of our 75 counties. In 35 counties, few if any children are enrolled in private schools. There are several possible explanations for the differences. One, the county’s urban population is larger, wealthier and denser. Two, the number of possible students may be limited. Three, the low density may cause the cost of transportation to be prohibitive. And four, parents may be satisfied with the education being provided by their public schools.

If no private schools of any type exist where they reside, parental choice is limited. Parents and taxpayers in the 35 counties with no private schools may object to spending some of their tax dollars to subsidize educational services they do not want and/or cannot access. Citizens in the other 40 counties may object for the same reason.

Given the scope of the LEARNS Act and the fact that it contains few details on oversight for its implementation, especially for the home school options, these concerns could be just the beginning of unintended consequences that could arise.