Memo Text
The 2020-2021 school year was the second year of disbursement of
the Educator Compensation Reform Fund (ECRP). The second year
disbursement occurred in the fall of 2020 and there will be no further ECRP
disbursements in 2020-2021. As we prepare for the ECRP disbursement in
2021-2022, the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) will review the ECRP funding
schedule posted at: https://dese.ade.arkansas.gov/Offices/fiscal-and-administrative-services/educator-compensation-reform-program. Disbursement of funding will be revised and both year three and year
four ECRP funds will be disbursed no later than September 30, 2021 in order to
assist districts to continue to meet the minimum salary requirements of the
Teacher Salary Enhancement Act (Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-2403 as amended by Act
170 of 2019).
As
a reminder, if your district chooses to raise the base salary for bachelor’s
degree above the minimum required by law (A.C.A. § 6-17-2403), you will be
required to raise your local contribution for health insurance (see A.C.A. §
6-17-1117(a)(3)(A)).
The revenue the district receives for the
Educator Compensation Reform Program (Teacher Salary) shall be receipted in
fund 2001 to revenue code 32219.
The exact amount of funds must be transferred
to the teacher salary fund with accounts 69313 and 52203. The journal
entry required to make this transfer from fund 2001 to fund 1000:
DR
2001520000000000 69313
CR
2001
01010 (CASH)
DR
1000
01010 (CASH)
CR
1000
52203
This disbursement of all remaining funds in 2021-2022
will close out the Educator Compensation Reform program. In 2022-2023,
districts that are below the target average according to Act 680 of 2021 are
eligible for funding to continue to address teacher salaries.