Sanders Appoints Gary Arnold to the Arkansas State Board of Education

Gary Arnold - LinkedIn Image

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. –Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders today announced that she has appointed Gary Arnold to serve on the Arkansas State Board of Education. This is Governor Sanders’ third appointment to the Board of Education. Arnold, whose term will expire on June 30, 2027, is replacing Steve Sutton.

“Gary is a longtime education leader and was one of our key allies in the LEARNS implementation process as part of the Rules and Regulations Taskforce,” said Governor Sanders. “With the help of Gary’s careful stewardship, the first school year with Arkansas LEARNS was a huge success, and the second year is shaping up to be even better. Now parents will have Gary on the Board of Education, fighting for a better Arkansas.”

“The best part of being an educator is learning something new every day. If we’re honest, we’re all students for life. Always learning. Always growing. Always getting better. That drives ADE’s vision for Arkansas to be a national leader in student-centered education,” said Gary Arnold. “I’m honored to now be on this team and I look forward to helping champion Governor Sanders’ bold reforms. Together, we’re taking Arkansas to the top.”

Gary Arnold Bio:
Gary Arnold currently serves as the Director of Head of School Certification at The Council on Educational Standards and Accountability (CESA) and as the Founder and Partner at NextEd, LLC. Before this role, Gary spent 16 years leading an independent school in Central Arkansas. During the LEARNS implementation process, Gary served on the Rules and Regulations Taskforce.

Gary began his career in education serving as the Head of School at the Trinity School of Cape Cod. Since then, he has served in numerous school leadership positions in Massachusetts, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Arkansas. In addition to his professional life, Gary has been a longtime advocate for school choice. For over 20 years, he has served on The Council on American Private Education (CAPE), in Washington, D.C where he now serves on the Executive Committee. Gary has had numerous articles published on leadership and the education landscape. 

Gary is a Wheaton College graduate and holds a doctorate in education from National Louis University in Evanston, Illinois. He is married to his wife Karen and is a father and grandfather.

New Arkansas Education Freedom Account numbers released

KUAR | By Josie Lenora

An annual report accounting for state school voucher money shows that most of the dollars go to students already in a private school, though at slightly lower numbers than the last school year. This is in keeping with the same report data from 2023-2024.

“Education Freedom Account” money is a pile of tax money allocated to private, religious and homeschool students. It is the result of a massive education law known as Arkansas LEARNS, signed into law by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders last year.

A main criticism of the LEARNS EFA program is that funds typically go to children already enrolled in private schools. For the 2023 school year, 95% of the money went to kids already in a private school. For the 2024 school year, that number fell slightly, but 82% of kids were not enrolled in a public school before they received the money. The report says, 90% of the students who received the money last year kept with the program for this school year.

New Arkansas Education Freedom Account numbers released

Weekly Update from State Representative DeAnn Vaught

The Arkansas Legislative Council (ALC) and ALC subcommittees convened this week. In these meetings, members received an update regarding the implementation of LEARNS, an update regarding a study of our state’s firearms laws, and approved funding to expand nurse training programs in the state.

Education Secretary Jacob Oliva updated the council on the use of Education Freedom Accounts. Education Freedom Accounts (EFA) is a school choice initiative that provides funding for eligible students to attend participating private schools. Secretary Oliva told the council that 4,795 students and 94 schools are currently participating. 

For this school year, EFA’s are limited to first-time kindergartners, students coming from “F” rated schools, students with a disability, foster care children, or children of active-duty military. 

Students with a disability identified under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act represent the largest share of participating students, amounting to 44% of total participants. First-time kindergarteners likewise represent a sizable share of the total participants, making up 31% of the participants’ population. 

Upon request, the council approved the disbursement of federal American Rescue Plan funds including a request from the Department of Commerce for $25 million to educate more nurses in Arkansas. The department says the funding will be used for a grant program to expand nursing apprenticeships, increase nursing program capacity, and tuition reimbursement. A portion of the funds will also be used for career center licensed practical nurse pathway development. These centers provide high school seniors and juniors college credit while in school.  

The Council was also informed that the Game and Fish and State Police Subcommittee will meet on Monday, November 13 at 1 pm in the MAC building behind the Capitol to begin hearing information presentations regarding federal laws related to firearms. 

This is the beginning of the Arkansas Firearms and Concealed Carry Laws Study. The public will have an opportunity to provide comments at the meeting. There will be a link on the General Assembly website for public comment, and there will be a signup sheet at the committee meeting. Only those members of the public who have signed up in one of those two ways will be allowed to come forward and present their comments to the Subcommittee. 

You can watch all ALC meetings and subcommittee meetings at www.arkansashouse.org.