Executive Director Update: Supporting Arkansas’s Teachers + Retirement Season Update

A legislative report earlier this month told a familiar story: Arkansas public school employees are still being asked to do more with less, but they continue to hold our schools together, and ATRS is a big reason why. That’s the story told by two key findings presented to the Senate and House Interim Committees on Education.

First, when you adjust for inflation, the average teacher salary for Arkansas public school districts is dropping – it’s nearly 8% lower than a decade ago. If it weren’t for the significant pay increases in the LEARNS Act, the drop over the last decade would have been worse, closer to 12%. I’m thankful that many of our members saw pay increases under the LEARNS Act, but this is a stark reminder that long-term pay trends in our public schools are not keeping up with the rising cost of living.

Second, a survey of teachers shows that the #1 reason they stay in public education is retirement. Not pay, not schedule, but the retirement security they have in ATRS. This underscores just how important our work is at ATRS. Our job is to ensure retirement security for Arkansas’s past, present, and future public education professionals. When we do our job well, the retirement security we provide helps ensure that qualified, experienced professionals continue to serve our state’s children in public education.

The report did show that some things are working and going well. For example, teacher retention rates are improving, and many educators reported feeling supported by their school leadership. In fact, just as retirement is the #1 reason reported by teachers for staying in the classroom, the #2 reason is their school’s leadership. Overall, 89% of teachers surveyed either somewhat agreed or strongly agreed that they were “generally satisfied with being a teacher at” their schools.

At the same time, though, stress and workload are taking a toll. The survey shows 30% of teachers are considering leaving the teaching profession, and 23% are interested in transferring schools or districts.

There’s not much that we at ATRS can do to increase pay or reduce workload for our state’s public school employees. But we work every day to reduce the stress of retirement and to ensure that a secure, happy retirement is waiting for these dedicated education professionals when they decide to retire.

On the Legislature’s website you can find links to the study and presentation with this information.

Retirement Season Ends

The deadline has now passed for members to enter T-DROP or retire July 1. We are still processing some forms that came in at the last minute, but as I write this, we have processed 1,438 July 1 retirement applications and 593 T-DROP applications. For comparison, last year we received 1,362 July 1 retirement applications and 681 T-DROP applications. So, the total number of ATRS members making retirement decisions was about the same as last year, but more members decided to fully retire this time rather than enter T-DROP.

I hope that more of our members will consider entering T-DROP next year. It really is a fantastic program, allowing members to begin accruing retirement benefits in a savings account even as they continue working. And members in T-DROP no longer have the 7% member contribution taken out of their paycheck.

Entering T-DROP is an option for ATRS members who are actively working and have at least 28 years of service credit. Those 28 years can include actual ATRS service credit or reciprocal service credit from another system like APERS. If you would like to see some projections for how you might benefit from T-DROP, please give our counselors a call at (501) 682-1517 or email us at info@artrs.gov.

You can find more information on T-DROP on our website here:

https://www.artrs.gov/teacher-deferred-retirement-option-t-drop

ATRS Financial Update

If you haven’t already seen it in the newspaper or on social media, you will be happy to know that our Board of Trustees received another outstanding financial performance report for our investment portfolio. Between July 1, 2025, and April 30, 2026, our investment portfolio has shown a 12.1% return, adding nearly $2 billion to the System’s assets.

For the first time ever, ATRS has exceeded $25 billion in total assets. That makes our System stronger financially and gives us more resilience in case we see a stock market downturn later this year, as some analysts are predicting. We measure our performance by a fiscal year that runs July 1 – June 30, so we are hoping that the stock markets continue their bullish gains as we close out this fiscal year in the next few weeks.

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If you have any questions about your retirement options or need information or advice, please contact one of our experienced retirement counselors by calling (501) 682-1517 or emailing info@artrs.gov. For questions or concerns about the System overall, please feel free to contact me directly at the email address or phone numbers below.

Mark White
Executive Director, ATRS
MarkW@artrs.gov
Office: (501) 621-8853
Cell: (501) 541-2057

Executive Director Update: Retirement Deadlines Approaching + Fiscal Session Update

We are nearing the end of our retirement season. May 31 is the deadline for active members to apply to enter T-DROP or apply for a July 1 retirement date. If a member submits their retirement application after May 31, it will delay their effective retirement date until the following month. But for T-DROP, if a member does not meet the deadline, they must wait until next year to enter T-DROP. 

Deciding whether to retire or enter T-DROP is a major life decision that can trigger some strong emotions and even stress. We want to make it easy for you by ensuring that you have all the information and support you need to choose what is best for you and your family. So, if you are thinking about retiring or entering T-DROP, I encourage you to check out our updated Member Retirement Planner. It includes important information about eligibility for retirement and T-DROP and walks you through the application process. You can find the Member Retirement Planner at the top of our Publications page at this link: https://www.artrs.gov/publications

You are also encouraged to talk with one of our retirement counselors on the phone, on a Zoom call, or in person at our office. Our counselors can walk you through your options, provide precise benefit estimates, and help you consider the financial impact of retiring or remaining employed. To chat with a counselor or schedule an appointment, please call us at (501) 682-1517, or email us at info@artrs.gov.

A couple of other points to remember if you are considering retirement or T-DROP:

• ATRS has made it easy and convenient for you to apply for retirement or T-DROP online via your member portal account.  You must be vested and at least age 60, or have 28 years of service credit, to apply online for retirement or T-DROP. Otherwise, you will need to submit a paper application.
• You are responsible for sending us your retirement or T-DROP application on time. Never assume that your school business office will send us the application for you, because that’s not their job. 
• As I mentioned in my email earlier this year, the United States Postal Service has changed how and when they postmark mail, and you can no longer assume that mail will be postmarked on the day you drop it in the mailbox. If you are mailing us a paper application, be sure to take it inside the Post Office and ask their staff to postmark it for you, or better yet, send it via Priority Mail or Certified Mail so that you have proof you mailed it and you can track it to ensure that it reaches us. Items must be postmarked by May 31, 2026.

2026 Legislative Fiscal Session

The Arkansas Legislature has now completed work for the 2026 Fiscal Session. Legislators were in Little Rock in session for a total of three weeks. Fortunately, no bills were introduced that would have affected our retirement benefits or our Board’s independence. The only legislation affecting ATRS was our appropriation bill, which is the bill passed each year that authorizes us to pay your benefits. Our appropriation bill was SB17. It passed both the House and Senate with no negative votes, and the Governor signed it into law on April 22.

Even though we have just finished the Fiscal Session, planning is already underway for the next Regular Legislative Session that begins in January. I am working with our staff to evaluate what needs to be addressed in new legislation. We know of some tweaks that may need to be made to better serve our members. If there is an ATRS issue you would like to see addressed in legislation, please feel free to drop me a note at MarkW@artrs.gov.

Finally, I know the end of the school year is in sight for our actively working members. Thank you for all that you have done this year to support public education and ensure that our state’s children are being well educated and prepared for our future. We at ATRS are so proud to serve the Arkansans who do some of the most important work in our State – educating future generations!

If you have any questions about your retirement options or need information or advice, please contact one of our experienced retirement counselors by calling (501) 682-1517 or emailing info@artrs.gov. For questions or concerns about the System overall, please feel free to contact me directly at the email address or phone numbers below.

Mark White
Executive Director, ATRS
MarkW@artrs.gov
Office: (501) 621-8853
Cell: (501) 541-2057