NWA teachers get pay bumps
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Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
The new baseline for teacher salaries at NWA's largest school districts is $55,000 — except for Bentonville.
State of play: The school board-approved minimum teacher salary at Bentonville Public Schools is $58,582 starting in the fall, up from $56,329 this year and just shy of $10,000 more than teachers started out making only four years ago.
- Teachers earn more based on education and experience. A teacher with a master's degree and 10 years of experience will make $71,960, for example.
Yes, but: The increases are up against average home prices nearly doubling in Bentonville from 2019 to 2025, reaching $483,000.
- A living wage in Benton County is about $46,500 for an adult with no children and about $56,450 for two working adults with two children, according to MIT's living wage calculator.
- Washington County is a little less expensive, with an adult with no children needing about $43,700 and two working adults with two children needing $52,100 for a living wage.
Zoom out: Fayetteville, Springdale and Rogers school districts also increased salaries for all teachers, and all increased their minimum salaries for teachers with bachelor's degrees and no experience to $55,000.
- The districts all offer higher pay for more education and for each additional year of experience, but it varies.
- Teachers with master's degrees and 10 years of experience will make $64,658 in Springdale, $65,598 in Rogers and $67,124 in Fayetteville.
Flashback: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' LEARNS Act of 2023 increased minimum teacher salaries from $36,000 to $50,000. The act also did away with the requirement to pay more based on education and experience, but the largest districts in NWA continue to do so.
What we're watching: McAuley Place, a housing development designed in part to offer affordable housing to Bentonville Public Schools employees, is set to have its first residents move in in October, spokesperson Ali Johnson told Axios.