A new report from legislative staff reveals that Arkansas teacher pay is increasingly lagging behind dozens of other states when adjusted for the cost of living, complicating the positive narrative state leaders have presented since the passage of the 2023 LEARNS Act.
The Bureau of Legislative Research presented the findings on teacher recruitment and retention to lawmakers Monday, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. According to the bureau, the Natural State ranked 36th in the nation for average teacher salaries in 2025 when factoring in the cost of living. That mark represents a steady decline from 2023, when the state ranked 33rd, and 2022, when it ranked 30th.
Arkansas also falls into the bottom half of Southern states, ranking 12th out of 16 represented by the Southern Regional Educational Board in 2025…