We use cookies to provide you with the best possible website experience. This includes cookies that are necessary for the operation of the site, as well as cookies used for anonymous statistics, comfort settings, or displaying personalized content. You can decide which categories you want to allow. Please note that depending on your settings, some features of the website may not be available.

Cookie settings

These necessary cookies are required to enable the core functionality of the website. Opting out of these cookies is not possible.

cb-enable
This cookie stores the user's cookie consent status for the current domain. Expiry: 1 year.
laravel_session
Stores the session ID to recognize the user when the page reloads and to restore their login session. Expiry: 2 hours.
XSRF-TOKEN
Provides CSRF protection for forms. Expiry: 2 hours.
IZA Discussion Paper No. 18520
April 2026
Raising the Floor: Teacher Retention Effects of a Statewide Minimum Salary Increase
Gema Zamarro, Andrew Camp, Josh McGee, Taylor Wilson, Miranda Vernon

The LEARNS Act increased Arkansas's minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000, guaranteed all teachers a minimum raise of $2,000, and provided school districts with the flexibility to deviate from traditional, seniority-based salary schedules. We collected districts' teacher salary schedules one year before and after implementation and integrated these data with administrative records to study districts’ adjustment and teacher retention during the first three years of the reform. We find that districts made the minimum adjustments necessary. These changes increased the competitiveness of starting salaries across districts and reduced salary variation statewide. The Act also substantially increased salaries in rural and high-poverty districts, weakening the negative relationship between starting salaries, student poverty, and rurality. Using a triple-difference design, we find that teachers who received raises exceeding the $2,000 minimum were more likely to remain in their districts, with the strongest retention effects among those receiving the largest increases. We also find evidence that these effects may fade as inflation erodes the real value of the initial salary gains.

Kommunikation
Mark Fallak
mark.fallak@liser.lu
+352 585-855-526
World of Labour
Olga Nottmeyer
olga.nottmeyer-ext@liser.lu
+352 585-855-501
Netzwerkkoordination
Christina Gathmann
christina.gathmann@liser.lu

Das IZA@LISER-Netzwerk ist eine weltweite Gemeinschaft für exzellente Forschung in der Arbeitsmarktökonomie und angrenzenden Fachgebieten. Nach dem Wechsel von Bonn wird das Netzwerk nun am Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) koordiniert.

Über das IZA@LISER Network
Contact
IZA@LISER NETWORK (Current Site Operator):

Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER)
11, Porte des Sciences
Maison des Sciences Humaines
L-4366 Esch-sur-Alzette / Belval, Luxembourg

IZA Institute (In Liquidation):

Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH i. L.
Schaumburg-Lippe-Str. 5-9, 53113 Bonn. Germany
Phone: +49 228 3894-0 | Fax: +49 228 3894-510
E-Mail: info@iza.org | Web: www.iza.org
Represented by: Martin T. Clemens (Liquidator)