A Letter from the President

SUMMER 2022

This issue of the Arkansas Educator is going to print as students and educators return to the classroom facing a daunting educator shortage with oversized classrooms and reports of reduced planning time.

In these pages, follow along to see where AEA has given the “Gift of Reading” as part of our statewide initiative to promote literacy. Over the past two years, we have visited schools across the entire state to donate books to students, classes, and school libraries. As a speech-language pathologist, I enjoy reading stories to children and impressing upon them the importance of using their imagination to explore the world and become a critical thinker.

Meet a librarian at the Arkansas School of the Deaf. She learned sign language by spending the summers with her cousin who is deaf. As an educator she reflects that the practice of reading is vital in our public schools, but it is even more important for students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing.

Educators around the state rallied together to call on the state to #PayAREducators. With a $1.6 billion surplus, a call was made for legislators to use the surplus to prioritize Arkansas’s students and raise educator pay. Instead, bonuses using COVID monies were offered which was a distraction from the effort to increase teacher and educator pay across the board.

Hop on the bus in Pine Bluff and find out how ESP members of Pine Bluff Education Association advocated for pay increases. Carol Williams-Rankin was the driving force behind the efforts demonstrating to district administrators that the professional bus drivers were not receiving the appropriate pay for their work. UniServ Director Loranzo Andrews worked closely with PBEA members to secure pay raises and ensure the bus drivers were placed appropriately on the salary pay schedule.

This edition has a few recaps of events in which AEA participated – Teacher Appreciation Week and the NEA Representative Assembly. A copy of the Teacher Appreciation Townhall is available on YouTube. Photos of the Arkansas NEA RA delegation, who participated in the first hybrid NEA Representative Assembly in Chicago, IL, can be found in this edition. They represented AEA by participating in daily state caucus meetings, RA Hearings, and the daily business of the NEA Annual Meeting – including voting on New Business Items, electing Executive Committee members, and voting on Resolutions, Policy Statements, and Amendments.

Finally, education is the cornerstone of our democracy. Educators teach and train individuals for all professions. Now, more than ever, we need to band together to promote the value of our profession which begins with higher pay and recognition from legislators and policymakers.

Together, we have a stronger voice.

Carol B. 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.