Teacher pay in Arkansas (2008-09)

Today's Democrat-Gazette analyzes teacher salaries for this school year. The top four are in northwest Arkansas, and the next two are in Crittenden County in east Arkansas. Here's a link to the Dept. of Ed. spreadsheet with the actual figures. The highest paid teacher in the state comes from Springdale ($70,257), and the lowest paid teacher comes from Turrell, which somehow pays teachers with no experience $28,897, less than the state required minimum of $29,244. At 245th, Turrell has to compete with two of the state's highest-paying districts in the same county, West Memphis and Marion.