Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the Arkansas Department of Education announced Tuesday that 4,200 educators qualified for bonuses under the Learns Merit Teacher Incentive Fund Program, which launched in 2023 as part of a major education reform bill. Roughly 3,000 educators received checks during the program’s first year.

“It’s neat to see how surprised [teachers] are, because they think that everybody’s working just as hard as they are, and that all the students are learning as much as their students,” said Jacob Oliva, Arkansas’ secretary of education. “It’s a special moment to really celebrate some of the best of the best.”

This year’s from the state is meant to incentivize, recruit and retain high-performing educators while reducing staff shortages, according to the department. But the state’s largest teachers union says too many educators are left out of the running for the annual salary boost.

To be eligible, educators have to meet a complex , including having three years of experience and either spending 70% of their time in the classroom or working as a librarian or school counselor.

Classroom teachers have to demonstrate growth in their students’ state test results and be ranked as effective or higher in the Arkansas Teacher Excellence and Support System, based on district of factors like quality of instruction, classroom environment and student engagement.

Educators who don’t have student state assessment data — such as those specializing in subjects not tested, like fine arts — have to be rated highly effective. 

Finally, qualifying teachers must rank in the top 25% of student growth scores, based on a three-year average of English language arts, math or science state tests; teach in a critical shortage area; or mentor college students to become teachers.

Bonus amounts depend on which criteria educators meet. A teacher can receive $9,000 for ranking in the top 1% in student growth, while a counselor could receive $1,500 for working in a geographic shortage area. Bonuses can reach $10,000.

But April Reisma, president of the Arkansas Education Association, said many high-performing teachers are left out. 

“I’m a special education teacher. One time in my life I’ve had a student that hit ‘exceeding’ on that test,” she said. “I’ve been a great teacher, and I’ve consistently got [highly effective] on my test evaluations, but I may or may not get that bonus, depending on whether or not my kids had a great day. It’s all based on a test at the end of the year for that growth. The results of one test are not an accurate indicator of how a student is performing.”

The that created the merit pay program also eliminated bonuses for national board certified teachers, a recognition that educators can receive after meeting rigorous standards. Reisma said certified teachers used to receive annual bonuses of $10,000, but those dwindled to $2,500 by the end of last year.

Lawmakers and state officials have said the bonus program’s many qualifications were intended to reward, retain and recruit educators who have a significant impact, such as producing outstanding student growth, teaching in short-staffed schools and mentoring future teachers.

“The program is designed to target those specific things, and from my perspective, has done a good job of providing significant additional compensation in those areas, and is likely to improve recruitment and retention across all three of those areas,” said Josh McGee, a professor with the University of Arkansas Office for Education Policy. The university is partnering with the state to implement the program.

The effectiveness of performance-based pay has varied over the years, with lacking in impact and producing positive results.

While Arkansas’ program is state-funded, the federal government has awarded to school districts for nearly two decades. , , and , have implemented performance pay programs over the years with mixed results.

Federal funding for teacher incentives was with the Trump administration’s efforts to scrap diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

The university will conduct research on the Arkansas program’s effectiveness in the coming years. McGee said an initial analysis will most likely take place in the fall, but an overall study won’t happen for a few years.

About 500 educators will be receiving up to $8,000 in bonuses this month, but some school leaders aren’t convinced it will be enough to solve Hawaii’s shortage of career technical education teachers. 

CTE teachers lead courses ranging from broadcast media to engineering in middle and high schools across the state. The classes, which emphasize hands-on learning and projects, provide students with skills and training they can use in their careers. 

While CTE isn’t new to Hawaii, it’s  in recent years, especially under the leadership of Department of Education Superintendent Keith Hayashi. But as schools expand their CTE offerings, the teacher workforce may be unable to keep up due to low pay and barriers to licensing.

The DOE said it doesn’t collect data on the CTE teacher shortage, but approximately 25 positions remain unfilled for the 2024-25 school year. , the Hawaii State Teachers Association said it received estimates from DOE that half of CTE classes in Hawaii schools are taught by teachers who don’t have a corresponding license in the subject area. 

Hawaii licenses educators to teach CTE classes in six areas: arts and communication, business, health services, industrial and engineering technology, public and human services and natural resources. 

The DOE is now providing one-time bonuses to CTE teachers that range from $2,500 to $8,000 based on individual qualifications. Lawmakers also passed a bill this year that would ease teacher licensing requirements and allow those with a high school diploma and relevant work and education experience to qualify for a CTE teacher license.

Kimberly Saula, vice principal at Farrington High School, said she’s hopeful these initiatives will grow Hawaii’s CTE teacher workforce. But, she added, many CTE teachers have years of experience in fields like healthcare or auto mechanics, and it’s challenging to convince these professionals to make the move to the classroom. 

“It’s difficult to make teaching high school students appealing,” Saula said. 

“The Shortage Is Huge”

Keala Swain worked in tourism and hotel management for 10 years before coming to Waimea High School on Kauai. Swain, who now teaches CTE classes in computer science and information technology, said he loves working with students and sharing the knowledge he gained from the technology courses he took in college.    

But, he said, leaving his career in the hotel industry required him to take a pay cut of roughly $20,000 in his first year as a teacher. 

Because CTE courses can require specialized knowledge in fields like architectural design or nursing, schools try to recruit industry professionals to teach their classes. But switching to teaching can result in a significant drop in workers’ salaries. 

“The shortage is huge,” Waimea High School Principal Mahina Anguay said, adding that she recently lost a CTE teacher to a job at the Navy base that could likely pay twice his teacher salary. 

The lengthy process for licensing may also deter those considering a CTE teaching job. 

The pathway to receiving a teacher license in CTE can vary depending on a person’s educational background and work experience, said Erin Yagi, who oversees Leeward Community College’s CTE licensure program. 

Individuals need to show relevant experience or coursework in the CTE licensing field they’re pursuing and take approximately three to four semesters of coursework preparing them for teaching, Yagi said. Many people seeking their CTE licenses are working adults who need to balance their coursework with other responsibilities, she added.

“It is challenging to be a full-time employee and go through a program,” Yagi said. 

LCC is one of three programs in Hawaii that can prepare teachers for CTE licensure. Last school year, the college recommended 10 students for licensure. 

Some Hawaii schools are feeling the direct consequences of the teacher shortage. 

Baldwin High School Principal Keoni Wilhelm said he hopes his Wailuku campus will become a wall-to-wall academy by 2025, meaning that all students will be on a college or career-focused pathway with classes and internships preparing them for jobs in culinary arts, business and more. 

But Wilhelm said it’s been difficult to recruit teachers as the school expands its CTE offerings. For example, he said, Baldwin previously had a healthcare pathway and took advantage of its close proximity to Maui Memorial Medical Center. But when the health diagnostic teacher left in 2021, the school had to dissolve the pathway and hasn’t been able to find a replacement since. 

“It’s not for a lack of trying to recruit,” Wilhelm said. 

Potential Reforms On The Way

When DOE announced it would issue bonuses for CTE teachers this spring, Swain was caught off-guard. He hadn’t expected the extra money, he said, although he appreciates the extra $4,000 he’s receiving this month. 

But he’s not sure if the bonuses of up to $8,000 will be enough to attract more people to teaching.

This isn’t the first time DOE has used monetary incentives to address the state’s ongoing teacher shortage. In 2020, the  for educators who taught special education or Hawaiian immersion classes or were in schools located in hard-to-staff areas. 

Special education teachers received the largest bonus of $10,000 each year. For the first two years after the bonuses began, the recruitment and retention of special education teachers improved.  

But Andrea Eshelman, deputy executive director and chief negotiator of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, is skeptical of DOE’s strategy to address the CTE teacher shortage. Currently, the bonuses are only one-time payments for individuals who taught CTE classes in the 2023-24 school year. 

In the , legislators appropriated $2.5 million to continue CTE bonuses in the 2024-25 school year, but Gov. Josh Green has yet to sign the bill.

Most teachers aren’t willing to change their jobs based on the uncertain possibility of receiving a salary boost in the future, Eshelman said. 

“Do we think it’s going to move people? Perhaps,” she said. “But for now, they were told it’s just a one-time thing.”

Legislators also passed a bill this session that could make it easier for industry workers to transition to teaching. 

Currently, prospective teachers need at least an associate’s degree to earn a CTE license. Under , those with a high school diploma and relevant education and experience in their respective industry could also be considered for a CTE license. 

Not all trades require a college degree, and the change in requirements could provide more opportunities for more industry workers to become teachers, said Felicia Villalobos, executive director of the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board. 

If the bill becomes law, she said, individuals would still need to take classes on the principles of education and teaching in order to receive a CTE license. HTSB would also need to define what level of industry experience and training could qualify an individual for licensure.  

Green has until July 10 to veto bills or sign them into law.

At Waimea High School, building and construction teacher Dante Casillas said it took him about 18 months of classes and teaching observations to receive his CTE license. Teaching CTE classes for the past two years has been rewarding, he said, adding that his students are leaving a legacy on the school by building risers and picnic tables that their classmates and the community can use. 

“Having that kind of impact and be able to say, ‘I did this,’ that’s a cool thing for everybody,” Casillas said. “The kids are just proud of their work.”

Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.

This was originally published on .

Nearly 3,000 Arkansas teachers can expect a boost to their paycheck by the end of the month, according to an announcement from Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders Tuesday afternoon.

The bonuses are part of the Merit Teacher Incentive Fund Program, which was created through a major education overhaul in 2023, the The law also raised the minimum starting salary for all Arkansas teachers to $50,000 a year.

“Great education starts with great teachers. That’s why one of my first acts as governor was to raise teacher pay across the board and reward our best educators,” Sanders said in a statement. “This year’s merit bonuses will incentivize teachers to continue tackling our state’s toughest assignments and help every Arkansas student thrive.”

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Bonuses will reach approximately 10% of Arkansas’ certified teachers with Cross, DeWitt and McGehee school districts of their staff receiving bonuses. Statewide, the average bonus is approximately $3,300, and nearly three dozen educators will receive the maximum $10,000 bonus provided through the program.

A total of $10 million in bonuses will be distributed, Sanders said.

Awarded teachers include those who “demonstrated outstanding growth in student performance, served as a mentor to aspiring teachers who participated in yearlong residencies or taught in a subject, geographical, or designation area experiencing a critical teacher shortage,” according to the governor’s office.

The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education identified recipients through a variety of state systems and student assessment data.

“We know for a fact that the teacher in the classroom has the biggest impact on student learning,” said Education Secretary Jacob Oliva. “The best educators deserve recognition for their excellence, and we are proud to recognize these educators for demonstrating a commitment to learning and ensuring their students succeed in the future.”

While the Cross, DeWitt and McGehee districts have a higher percentage of teachers receiving bonuses, those districts do not also have the highest average bonus in the state.

In the Clinton School District, for example, just 5% of teachers will receive a bonus through the program, but the average bonus is valued at $4,000. The average bonus at the Genoa Central district in southwest Arkansas is $6,429, and 7.1% of teachers can expect a boost.

At least 16 school districts have no teachers receiving a bonus, according to the state education department. Among those schools are Cedarville in Northwest Arkansas, Mammoth Spring along the northern border and Marvell-Elaine along the Mississippi River.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com. Follow Arkansas Advocate on and .

OKLAHOMA CITY — An attempt by the Oklahoma State Department of Education to claw back teacher bonuses has raised new questions in the state Legislature over the agency’s handling of taxpayer funds.

Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, said teachers shouldn’t be forced to pay back the bonuses if the state had mistakenly paid them. The Senate Education Committee leader told reporters on Tuesday it would be unfair and could diminish trust in other teacher incentive programs.

Pugh said the situation “will raise additional questions” as lawmakers consider the state Education Department’s budget, including the agency’s request to expand teacher bonus initiatives.

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“I think it is fair for my colleagues to now have a little bit of suspicion when we’re getting asked, sometimes in the hundreds of millions of dollars, to implement new programs,” Pugh said.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters said some teachers were untruthful when they applied for , which he created last year.

He then blamed the news media for reporting “prematurely” on the program while his agency is still verifying applicants’ eligibility, according to a letter he sent to the state Legislature on Monday.

More than 500 teachers were approved for bonuses of $15,000 to $50,000, and they started receiving their payments in the fall. This month, the agency identified certain teachers that it said didn’t meet the program’s criteria and demanded they return the funds.

Walters’ letter also acknowledges other teachers had been underpaid, though he didn’t say how many.

“These teachers will be receiving additional bonus funds commensurate with their qualifications,” he wrote.

The program offered high-dollar signing bonuses to attract new teachers to the state or encourage them to return to the classroom after having left for other professions. Teachers who worked in a public school the year before were not eligible for the program.

Recipients pledged to work five years in an Oklahoma public school district.

One teacher, Kay Bojorquez, said her application was approved and was awarded $50,000 in October. She took home about $30,000 after taxes.

Then, she received a letter on Jan. 13 demanding she repay the full $50,000 because the state agency had discovered she was never eligible.

Bojorquez, an Osage County special education teacher with Epic Charter Schools, filed a lawsuit on Monday against the state Department of Education, contending an agency error shouldn’t force her to return the funds. Her lawsuit states it would be financially impossible for her to pay it back in full.

She also sued Walters for defamation over his claim that she had lied on her application.

Her attorney, Mark Hammons, said Bojorquez was “candid and honest in all the information she supplied,” including her work history.

“As far as she knew, she met the qualifications they set out. They approved that and then applied a clawback,” Hammons said. “That is unreasonable and defamatory to claim that she was dishonest.”

Eight other teachers also received demands for repayment after the state agency overpaid at least $290,000 in signing bonuses, according to .

Pugh and other state lawmakers have said the Education Department should bear the cost of its own mistake.

“A teacher got a $50,000 bonus,” Pugh said. “After taxes, they took home $29,000, and now the heavy hand of government is going to ask them to pay back $50,000. That’s a great deal for government. But what a shame for us to run an agency that way, or what a shame for us to run a state that way.”

The agency paid the bonuses with special education funds from the federal government.

Walters called the program “the most successful teacher recruitment initiative in state history” because it attracted more than 500 teachers.

He suggested the Legislature spend $10 million in state funds on a similar teacher recruitment program and $22 million in bonuses for educators whose students show growth in reading and math.

However, the structure of such a program and the agency’s verification process have come under scrutiny from lawmakers. The head of the House education funding committee, Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, said he encouraged the agency to implement better controls before distributing money.

Rep. Rhonda Baker, R-Yukon, urged the Education Department to reconsider its internal process and “find a better solution for the teachers that received the bonus in error.”

“As a former teacher, I cannot imagine the anxiety something like this would induce — to be deemed eligible and to receive a large bonus in my bank account, only to be told months later I must return it,” Baker said in a statement Friday. “It was up to the State Department of Education to provide proper oversight in the vetting and approval of the bonus recipients.”

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com. Follow Oklahoma Voice on and .