Memo Text
Arkansas Code Annotated §
6-17-2203 requires school districts to increase the minimum hourly rate paid to
full-time classified school employees by a percentage equal to the percentage
increase of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The result is the new minimum
hourly rate to be paid to all full-time classified school employees. The
legislation does not provide a specific source for the CPI data. The
Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) recognizes the Bureau of Labor
Statistics' website as a valid source of CPI data: http://www.bls.gov.
CPI data used for the
percentage increase calculation is found at https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?bls.
Check the box on the screen under “Price Indexes” that is labeled "CPI for
Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), 1982-84=100-CWUR0000SA0,"
then scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the button labeled
"Retrieve Data".
The data on this page was
used to calculate that the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers
increased by 7.26% from the twelve-month average of May 2020 through April 2021
to the twelve-month average of May 2021 through April 2022. The minimum hourly rate for the 2021-2022
school year was $9.14. The established increase for 2022-2023 is 7.26% or
$0.66 per hour, which results in the new minimum rate of $9.80 per
hour.
The new classified
employee minimum wage calculated for school year 2022-2023 is $9.80 per hour;
however, the Arkansas minimum wage is $11.00 per hour. Because the state minimum
wage is more than the calculated CPI rate, use the state minimum wage for
classified employees.