A letter from the President

SUMMER 2021

Just when we thought it was over, we discover it is not.

As this issue of the Arkansas Educator goes to print, Arkansas’s public schools are planning for students and educators to return for the upcoming school year. There is concern amidst the rise in cases from a mutated variant and a lag in vaccinations while Arkansas remains in the nation’s top percentage of cases and hospitalizations. Safety remains as our top priority. AEA continues to advocate fiercely for the safety, health, and rights of students and educators. This publication has an extensive look at the 93rd General Assembly Legislative Session. It was truly a session like no other with legislation focused on school funding, teacher salaries, private school vouchers and voting rights. Some of the best news from the legislative session was the commitment to K-12 public education with the largest increase in school funding in over a decade and the increase in the median teacher pay by $2,000 over the next two years. Also in this issue, we invite you to travel with us to Hot Springs where we meet Carl Frank, a computer science teacher at the Arkansas School for Math and Sciences. Find out why he joined the largest professional organization for public school educators and was a state finalist for the 2021 Computer Science Educator of the Year. A few miles further south, we meet Ashley Kincannon of Lake Hamilton School District who was named the 2021 Arkansas Computer Science Educator of the Year. In this issue, readers will see the work that was done on behalf of educators enrolled in the Public Education Employees Health Insurance plan. AEA was pivotal in the work with legislators and the Employees Benefits Division to ensure our health insurance costs didn’t skyrocket. In addition, AEA partnered with multiple organizations and legislators to protect voting rights of Arkansans. Two events were held at the Capitol. One outside on the steps and the other inside the rotunda. As you can tell, it has been a busy time, but I want to take a moment to thank each of you for everything you do for Arkansas’s students. Together, we will continue to stand and support students and educators as we improve education in our state. Thank you for your contributions to the lives of our students, which become more apparent with

each passing day, and for being a member of the Arkansas Education Association.

Carol Fleming, President, AEA

ABOUT PRESIDENT FLEMING: Carol B. Fleming MS, CCC-SLP is a speech language pathologist currently serving as President of the Arkansas Education Association. Before taking the helm of the state’s largest association for education professionals, Fleming spent two decades working with students at Pulaski Heights Middle School within the Little Rock School District. Fleming has worked to ensure good public education policies at the local, state and national level. As a parent of an adult with special needs, she is reminded daily of the importance of advocating on behalf of the professions and those served which has fueled her passion for education, leadership, and professional issues. Her goal is to get others to become involved to support successful public schools.