Arkansas schools must offer paid maternity leave
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Public schools in Arkansas are now required to offer paid maternity leave, Arkansas Department of Education spokesperson Kimberly Mundell confirmed to Axios.
State of play: Act 904 of 2025 removed language from the law that said employees of school districts and public charter schools "that elect to participate" are eligible for paid maternity leave.
Flashback: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' sweeping education law, the LEARNS Act of 2023, allowed schools to offer up to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave with the state covering half of the "incurred costs."
- The state education board later interpreted "incurred costs" to mean the substitute pay during the time a teacher is out on leave, given that the school district would have budgeted to pay the teacher's salary regardless.
By the numbers: Of more than 220 districts in the state, 22 districts offered any paid maternity leave during the 2023-24 school year.
- None were in Northwest Arkansas, and school leaders told Axios the costs were still too much for districts and that increased teacher absences would exacerbate a struggle to find qualified substitutes.
The latest: The law is now amended so that the state will pay all "incurred costs" or 100% of the substitute pay.
- The state estimates the revised program could cost up to about $3.4 million a year, according to a fiscal impact statement. The state paid $136,394 of its $3 million budget for the school maternity leave program during the 2023-24 school year.
Zoom out: The amended law also adds taking in a foster child under 1 year old as an eligible circumstance for maternity leave in addition to giving birth or adopting a baby under 1 year old.