Arkansas Blog

Let the cuts begin at the top. If the automakers CEO as being asked to take a pay cut, why shouldn't those at the top of the LRSD do the same...IF education is the top priority

for those keeping score at home, that means there are 106 employees making an average of 112,000+

I've lost what little confidence I had in the LRSD's current leadership.

Good GAWD! Let those top cuts begin now..... At least ten percent.

NOTE: This is just for purposes of discussion at this point. No one has proposed a pay cut for any employees.

Isn't that what you just did?! ;-)

Mr. Armstrong, cutting TEACHER salaries is by far the dumbest thing you could ask about. Teachers don't make a lot any way. What they do make is eaten up in health benefits. Cut salaries and you lose teachers AND students. And THAT will really enhance LRSD, won't it.

"Each time you make cuts, a change reaction is created."

I bet she actually wrote that.

How much would it save if we cut 100% of the jobs paying more than $120,000?

Admin employees' are responsible for budgeting. If 10 million is what's been lost due bad administration, removing 10 million from admin would be the place to start. Admin should only get raises or bonuses if they earn them. That is, after all other expenses are figured. The days of folks at the top getting unearned raises and bonuses should be over, but we know that's not going to happen.

"An nescis mi fili, quantilla prudentia regitur orbis?"
Count Oxenstierna

I totally agree with you, CBM. I saw an article recently that quoted the cost of health insurance for a LRSD teacher and family to be $700/mo - that's pathetic since the starting salary for a teacher is only $32,200. Teaching is a demanding profession with low pay/benefits. If we cut teacher salaries, we might just save loads more because we won't be able to fill the openings that we have.

The DemGaz this week quotes the starting salary for a teacher in Bentonville as $42,230. Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale come in right behind Bentonville. Now explain to me again why I would want to teach in the LRSD...

If cuts are going to occur, cut the bloated salaries of adminstrators. You can't kill the front line and expect a quality product. Charter and private school will gut the LRSD of not only students, but of teachers as well. Somone better put a finger on the dike, because it's about to explode. I'm no fortune teller, but I get the feeling LRSD is headed for state control if they get a hold on this funding issue.

In regards to the health insurance cost for a teacher, in most districts that cost is shared by the district and by the teacher. I can't quote the percentages and am guessing that it's about 50-50. Hopefully a current teacher in the district will submit better evidence.

Saying that the legislature can takeover LRSD does not mean they will. I'm not sure they want to open that can of worms and bureaucracy.

On the health insurance, I'm sure it is shared between employee and employer. Our family gets health, dental, disability, and life insurance for about 25% of what a teacher pays for just health insurance (read private sector, not teaching). It just makes me wonder how we expect to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers, which we most desperately need to do. The pay is low, the benefits are not good, and you have the LRSD school board to contend with as well.

I suggest you go to the Arkansas Department of Education site and do some research on teacher salaries and benefits. LRSD certainly doesn't rate as one of the low paying districts nor does it skimp on benefits. As to your point regarding school board consideration on teacher hires, there is no evidence that such usually affects a teacher's decision to apply for work in the district.

Anyway, ADE is an excellent source for data and research regarding many aspects of education throughout the state. It's not easy to use their search engine, but with some perseverance and good guesswork, you should be able to find recent data on the subject of teacher salaries throughout the state. I know I did when I had a previous debate with IS on comparing starting, ending and average salaries.

Thanks for the input on benefits and I hope you find the right report without too much hassle. It will prove LRSD compares very favorably in regards to pay and benefits.

I really think that you are being unfair to the high level administrative staff at the LRSD. If they get cut where are they going to find a comparable paying job? I mean they couldn't get a comparable job in the private sector because they don't have any real skills or experience. Imagine what it would do to the community when all of these high paying employees can't sit in those executive chairs, carry briefcases and do lunch. It just isn't fair.

It makes a lot more sense to bounce teachers. I mean the only impact is on instruction. We have got to get our priorities straight. The purpose of the LRSD is to provide high paying jobs to people who couldn't do that well anywhere else. Education just isn't what it is all about at the good old local school system. Capite?

The LRSD ranks 78th in starting teacher pay in the state. That's approximately $10,000 or 25% less than a starting teacher in NW AR. The top pay for a teacher is also almost $8,000 less in LR than what it is in NW AR. Based on those numbers, I do consider the LRSD to be one of the lower paying districts.
I haven't seen any national statistics lately, but I'm willing to bet that AR ranks among the bottom for teacher salaries as a whole.

Nothing like obfuscation. You left off ending salary and how LRSD ranks there and you left off average salary and how LRSD ranks. You also don't mention the total number of districts considered nor do you show how many cluster around LRSD within a few hundred dollars of their amount for the given salaries.

All you've proven is that you can bullshit with statistics and do a bad job at it in the process. It's a good thing you're not looking for a teaching job, because you've already proven yourself incompetent to understand financial data from an honest perspective.

You can join the Idiot Savant in making pronouncements that misuse highly selective and limited facts to fit your pet theories rather than find real explanations for the facts that shows one the whole scope and range of the picture. Hopefully you won't join him in making foolish and silly statements like "The purpose of the LRSD is to provide high paying jobs to people who couldn't do that well anywhere else."

The facts as listed (starting, average, and ending salaries plus benefits) need to be given as a ranking percentage-wise of how the school compares in all categories with all districts and it should include a statement on how the ranges are broken down so that one can get a sense of how much separation there is between LRSD and a selected number of schools.

What is very evident in your presentation is the lack of such detail and a failure to admit error in the face of evidence. If you persist in making a fool of yourself just to make a cheap point, then be my guest.

I will state that there are too many administrative positions in the LRSD. You'll find that LRSD ranks near 70% for starting, near 80-85% for average, and near 90-95% for ending salary. Benefits rank near the top also. How you classify this as "low paying" in comparison to all the districts within the state is beyond me.

Click on name for 2006-2007 Salary comparisons for teachers in Arkansas.

There are 245 school districts listed. Out of these 245, LRSD has the following ranks:

BA 57th 76.7%
BA +15 4th 98.4%
BA Top 5th 98.0%
MA 25th 89.8%
MA +15 4th 98.4%
PhD 7th 97.1%

As one can see, LRSD significantly rewards those who pursue higher education credits. Beginning teachers can quickly see their salaries increase with just 15 hours of college credit beyond their Bachelors degree in education.

I'm sure there are some minor differences between this report and the latest one, but nothing that will significantly disprove my point. Also, while I was teaching, LRSD also encouraged teachers to go for further higher education by reimbursing your tuition fees based upon your grades. In other words, they paid for your schooling and paid you more as you completed certain number of credit hours.

And you call that low paying?!

It looks like I am in the wrong here...my mistake. I've never felt like teachers were paid enough, and seeing NWA surpass LR by so much money seemed to coincide with my thoughts.

My bottom line is that I do not believe reducing the salaries of the front line will help the school situation in LR.

Let's hope they work it out. More importantly, let's hope they can find the teachers everywhere to replace the loss of the baby boomers in the profession over the next few years.

Let's hope they work it out. More importantly, let's hope they can find the teachers everywhere to replace the loss of the baby boomers in the profession over the next few years.

Let's hope they work it out. More importantly, let's hope they can find the teachers everywhere to replace the loss of the baby boomers in the profession over the next few years.

Let's hope they work it out. More importantly, let's hope they can find the teachers everywhere to replace the loss of the baby boomers in the profession over the next few years.

Let's hope they work it out. More importantly, let's hope they can find the teachers everywhere to replace the loss of the baby boomers in the profession over the next few years.