State of the State Mid-Year 2023: In education, Arkansas is in a state of change

by Steve Brawner (BRAWNERSTEVE@MAC.COM)

Now that Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ LEARNS Act has become the law in Arkansas, public and private schools are in a state of change.

The wide-ranging 145-page law, which went into effect Aug. 1, increases minimum public school teacher salaries from $36,000 to $50,000, makes it easier for schools to fire underperforming teachers, and requires third-graders to read at grade level or potentially face being retained one year. Many of the law’s provisions remain to be determined though the rules process.

Perhaps its most contentious aspect is its creation of “education freedom accounts” that give families access to public school funds for private and homeschooling expenses. For the 2023-24 school year, that amount equals roughly $6,600, and it will increase each year as state funding for schools increases.