Senate Bill 52 Summary

• Establishes a maximum of 347 regular employees for the Department of Education with total regular salaries appropriated at $14,571,285 for fiscal year 2012-2013.

• Appropriates $24,007,159 for Department of Education - State Operations, including funding for Reading Recovery ($100,000) and AR Leadership Academy ($900,000).

• Appropriates a total of $1,038,957,726 across multiple programs including Federal Elementary and Secondary Education ($838,735,814), Child Nutrition ($167,603,971), and various other grant and education programs.

• Authorizes up to 5 non-classified positions with maximum salary of $125,000 and 25 classified positions up to grade C130 in a "Position Pool" for addressing emerging personnel needs during the fiscal year.

• Transfers $350,000 from the Property Tax Relief Trust Fund to the Department of Education Public School Fund Account for the STEM Initiative for Curriculum and Instruction effective July 1, 2012.