FCity educators selected for merit pay from state

Twenty-seven educators in the Forrest City School District are among over 5,000 statewide eligible to receive merit pay through the LEARNS Merit Teacher Incentive Fund Program. Educators throughout the state are eligible to receive up to $10,000 in merit pay provided certain criteria are met. Merit pay incentives recognize qualifying educators for outstanding student growth, service in critical shortage areas and mentorship of future teachers. The state awarded nearly $20 million in merit pay this year, including fringe benefits. This year’s awards represent an increase of about 2,000 educators compared to the program’s first year in 2024, according to a press release from the ADE. The 27 educators in the FCSD represent 18% of district’s employees who met the qualifications to be eligible for the additional pay, according to school officials. Those employees received an average bonus of $2,166. The merit pay for FCSD employees ranged from $1,500 to $4,500 for a total of $58,500 in bonuses. Originally, the names of 13 educators in the FCSD were submitted to the state for approval for merit pay. However, school officials later discovered another 14 educators should have also been submitted for consideration and those employees were later approved by the state, FCSD officials said. The state provided the district $27,000 in funding for the original 13 employees. The school district’s board, upon learning of the 14 educators omitted from the original list, voted at a recent meeting to give merit pay of $31,500 to the 14 employees. With the other employees included, the FCSD has the second highest percentage of educators in this region who qualified for merit pay. The Arkansas Department of Education’s website includes a map showing each school district in the state along with the percentage of educators in those districts eligible for merit pay. The FCSD’s original percentage was 11.5 prior to the discovery of the other 14 eligible educators. The addition of those employees increased it to 18% In the Palestine-Wheatley School District, 8.5% of educators received merit pay averaging $4,400. Only 2% of educators in the Lee County School District were eligible for merit pay averaging $2,000, according to the state report. The Cross County School District was one of the top districts in the state in which educators were rewarded for their work. According to the ADE, 51.9% of educators in that district received average bonuses of $2,444. The Wynne School District ranked in the lower tier for merit pay, with 4.1% of educators eligible for bonuses averaging $2,643. In the Brinkley School District, 17.1% of educators qualified for merit pay averaging $2,000. The average merit pay for educators in the Marion School District is $2,426 for 13.7% of those who qualified. In the West Memphis School District, 7.8% of educators qualified for bonuses averaging $3,292. The report shows that no educators in the Earle School District qualified for merit pay. “Every student deserves a great teacher in the classroom, and every great teacher deserves to be recognized for the difference they make. Our educators are helping students reach higher standards, and this investment both rewards excellence and helps retain top talent in Arkansas,” said Gov. Sarah Sanders in a press release. “Highquality teachers are the backbone of student success, and this program is one of the ways we are elevating and celebrating the profession. We applaud the educators who go above and beyond to make sure students are ready to enlist, enroll or be employed after high school… ,” said Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva. Eligibility includes all classroom teachers, library media specialists and school counselors. For the 2025-26 school year, the average bonus was around $3,300, with nearly 900 educators earning more than $5,000 and 80 receiving the maximum $10,000 award, ADE reports.

FCity educators selected for merit pay from state

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