Judge hears arguments in Arkansas LEARNS indoctrination case

KUAR | By Josie Lenora

A federal judge Wednesday did not make a ruling after hearing arguments in a lawsuit over how race can be taught in Arkansas schools.

The state is trying to dismiss a case challenging Section 16 of the Arkansas LEARNS Act, which prevents educators from teaching “prohibited indoctrination including Critical Race Theory.” Under the law, teachers are also not allowed to teach anything that could “encourage discrimination.”

After the law passed, an AP African American Studies class was briefly removed from the state’s curriculum before being reinstated. A group of lawyers, along with local parents, teachers and students are suing the state. They argue the law has a vague chilling effect that makes teachers' jobs difficult, discriminates against Black people and amounts to “viewpoint discrimination.”

Judge hears arguments in Arkansas LEARNS indoctrination case

Josie Lenora/Little Rock Public Radio

Attorney Mike Laux (far right), addresses the media after a hearing on a lawsuit challenging Arkansas' ban on teaching "indoctrination" and Critical Race Theory in Little Rock Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024.

Five companies submit bids to run Arkansas’ school voucher program

KUAR | By Antoinette Grajeda / Arkansas Advocate

From the Arkansas Advocate:

Five companies, three of whom have applied previously, responded to a request for proposals to administer Arkansas’ school voucher program after the state fired the previous vendor.

The Arkansas Department of Education is terminating its contract with its current Indiana-based vendor due to delays and failure to implement required components.

According to a list provided by the Arkansas Department of Transformation and Shared Services, proposals were submitted by Tuesday’s deadline from Merit International, Primary Class (doing business as Odyssey), Alliance for Choice in Education (doing business as ACE Scholarships), Pearl and Kleo Inc.

Five companies submit bids to run Arkansas’ school voucher program

Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate

Education Secretary Jacob Oliva speaks to superintendents about the LEARNS Act during a meeting at the Northwest Arkansas Education Service Cooperative on Mar. 10, 2023.

State of the State Mid-Year 2024: Schools implementing LEARNS; funding formula change coming?

by Steve Brawner (BRAWNERSTEVE@MAC.COM)

What’s the state of the state in education? Schools are implementing Gov. Sarah Sanders’ LEARNS Act. Legislators are performing the biennial adequacy study that will determine school funding amounts for the next two years. In next year’s legislative session, they could craft a new funding formula.

The sweeping 2023 LEARNS Act made major changes to the state’s education system but left many of the details to the rulemaking process. Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva estimated in an interview that “95%” of the rules are ready. Many had to be completed by July 1.

Among the most notable aspect of LEARNS was its creation of “educational freedom accounts.” Through these, 90% of the state per pupil foundation funding traditionally provided to schools instead goes to eligible families that can use them for qualifying expenses for nonpublic school alternatives. Roughly $7,000 per student will be provided to those families this upcoming second year of the program. Up to 3% of public school students can use them for private schools. Next year, there will be no percentage restrictions, and homeschooled students will be eligible.

State of the State Mid-Year 2024: Schools implementing LEARNS; funding formula change coming?

Weekly update from State Representative DeAnn Vaught

This week, the House and Senate Education Committee convened to continue important work on the Educational Adequacy Study, a crucial study aimed at ensuring that every student in Arkansas has access to a high-quality education. One area of focus has been teacher recruitment and retention—an essential component in providing a stable and effective learning environment for our students.

Historically, Arkansas has taken significant steps in educational funding following landmark legal cases such as the 2002 Lake View case. At the heart of our funding strategy is the foundation funding model established in 2003, which outlines the essential resources needed for an adequate education. This funding matrix, while largely unchanged in its composition, has seen adjustments in funding amounts over the years. For 2023, the per-pupil foundation funding stood at $7,413, reflecting our ongoing commitment to supporting our schools.

 In recent years, we have seen positive trends in teacher qualifications and experience. The percentage of teachers holding bachelor's, master's, and advanced degrees has risen, along with an increase in fully certified teachers. From 2021 to 2023, the average years of teacher experience grew from 10.5 to 11.8 years, showcasing a more experienced workforce in our classrooms. Currently, 92% of teachers have at least one year of experience, and 3% are nationally board-certified, indicating a dedicated and skilled teaching staff.

 While our average teacher retention rate stands at 74%, we will always strive for improvement.

Under the LEARNS Act, we raised starting teacher salaries to $50,000/year. It is clear that investing in our teachers is paramount. We must continue to explore ways to ensure they feel valued and supported in their vital roles.

The final Educational Adequacy Report must be completed by November 1. You can find copies of the presentations at the committee meetings at arkansashouse.org.

State Board of Education approves new accountability system, guidelines

KUAR | By Josie Lenora

The Arkansas State Board of Education approved new accountability guidelines for private schools getting tax money on Thursday.

The 2023 LEARNS Act signed into law by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders allowed public money to be used for private schools. The money comes from a pool of funds called the “education freedom account.”

Sanders and Education Secretary Jacob Oliva have promised accountability measures for these schools since the law was passed. Stacy Smith, Deputy Commissioner of the Education Department's Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, presented the new rules at a meeting on Thursday. Students at private schools getting tax dollars will be required to take standardized testing and meet accreditation standards, but there will be a lot of flexibility for them in both categories.

State Board of Education approves new accountability system, guidelines

Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate

Arkansas Department of Education Deputy Commissioner Stacy Smith (right) at a previous meeting of the board. On Thursday she presented testing and accreditation rules for private schools receiving public money.

Plaintiffs discuss ongoing lawsuit against Arkansas critical race theory ban

KUAR | By Josie Lenora

A group of teachers and students in Arkansas is suing the state over a law that was used to restrict an advanced placement African American studies course. They say the law is vague and creates a chilling effect because it tries to limit how race is talked about in classrooms.

Ruthie Walls, a history teacher at Central High School in Little Rock, is one of a handful of educators who teach AP African American Studies. Last August she was preparing for the school year, when she found out her class was canceled by the state.

“No one wants to get news like that,” she said. “I was taken off guard and I had to continue with the day.”

Plaintiffs discuss ongoing lawsuit against Arkansas critical race theory ban

Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate

From left front: Gisele Davis, Chandra Williams-Davis, Ruthie Walls, Sadie Belle Reynolds and Jennifer Reynolds are five of the seven plaintiffs challenging Section 16 of the Arkansas LEARNS Act in federal court.

Federal judge denies stay in Arkansas LEARNS ‘indoctrination’ lawsuit

KUAR | By Antoinette Grajeda / Arkansas Advocate

From the Arkansas Advocate:

A federal judge on Monday denied a motion for a stay of proceedings pending an appeal in a case challenging the constitutionality of a section of the LEARNS Act that bans “indoctrination” in public schools.

U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky last week granted in part and denied in part the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit.

The state on Friday filed a notice of appeal of the order, as well as a motion for a stay pending its appeal and a stay of a May 14 deadline for filing responses, pending the court’s ruling on the motion.

Federal judge denies stay in Arkansas LEARNS ‘indoctrination’ lawsuit

Michael Hibblen/Little Rock Public Radio

The Richard Sheppard Arnold United States Courthouse in Little Rock.

Teacher pay study touts Arkansas improvements

by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

A study conducted by The New Teacher Project says Arkansas has the highest teacher pay in the country, when you figure in cost-of-living factors, but the report is hesitant to draw further conclusions about the improvement of teacher recruiting and retention until more data is available on recent initiatives.

Released last week, the TNTP report titled “Moving Up: Promising Strategies to Address Teacher Shortages in Arkansas” is a follow up to a 2021 report titled “Missing Out,” which outlined some ways the state could fix its looming teacher shortage. Some of those recommendations were included in Gov. Sarah Sanders’ LEARNS Act.

The signature education bill raised minimum teacher salaries in Arkansas to $50,000 and provided one-time $2,000 raises to teachers earning more than $50,000.

Teacher pay study touts Arkansas improvements

Federal judge schedules hearing in Arkansas LEARNS lawsuit

KUAR | By Antoinette Grajeda / Arkansas Advocate

From the Arkansas Advocate:

A federal judge on Wednesday scheduled a preliminary injunction hearing for April 30 in a case challenging the constitutionality of a portion of the LEARNS Act that bans “indoctrination” in public schools.

Little Rock Central High School parents, students and a teacher involved in an AP African American Studies pilot course that received scrutiny for potentially violating the “indoctrination” ban, filed the lawsuit in late March against Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Education Secretary Jacob Oliva.

In Wednesday’s order, U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky said he granted in part and denied in part the plaintiffs’ request for an “expedited briefing and consideration.” He denied part of the request because plaintiffs could have filed their complaint and preliminary injunction months ago, he wrote.

Federal judge schedules hearing in Arkansas LEARNS lawsuit

Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate

From left front: Gisele Davis, Chandra Williams-Davis, Ruthie Walls, Sadie Belle Reynolds and Jennifer Reynolds are five of the seven plaintiffs challenging Section 16 of the Arkansas LEARNS Act in federal court. Mike Laux (at podium) is one of their attorneys and filed the lawsuit Monday, March 25, 2024 before hosting a news conference at Bullock Temple CME Church, across the street from Little Rock Central High, where Gisele and Sadie Belle are students in Walls’ AP African American Studies course.

Governor says Year 2 eligibility for Education Freedom Account participants is open

by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

Gov. Sarah Sanders said Monday (April 1) that a new cohort of eligible students could begin the application process for Education Freedom Accounts, the voucher program constructed under her LEARNS Act education overhaul that allows public school funding to follow students to other options, including private school or homeschooling.

Year 2 eligible children include those whose parents are veterans, military reserve members, first responders, and law enforcement officers, as well as students who previously attended D-rated schools.

The department began accepting applications for the 2024-2025 school year on Monday (April 1).

Governor says Year 2 eligibility for Education Freedom Account participants is open

LEARNS, taxes, transparency split GOP candidates in some Arkansas legislative primaries

From the Arkansas Advocate:

Tax cuts, school vouchers and the state Freedom of Information Act are all hot-button issues for several Arkansas Republicans vying for seats in the state Legislature, including several incumbents who are fighting to appear on the November ballot.

A few of the challengers in the upcoming primary have run for legislative offices before, have already served in the Legislature or have family ties to former lawmakers.

“This is the people’s job,” said Timmy Reid, a cattle farmer and contractor from Marshall who is running for the House for the fourth time since 2018. “…It doesn’t matter what I want — if the people of my district decide they don’t want [something], I’m not voting for it or supporting it.”

LEARNS, taxes, transparency split GOP candidates in some Arkansas legislative primaries

Dwain Hebda/Arkansas Advocate

The Arkansas State Capitol.

State board approves waivers for Arkansas school districts moving to alternate calendars

KUAR | By Antoinette Grajeda / Arkansas Advocate

From the Arkansas Advocate:

Arkansas education officials on Wednesday voted to allow half the state’s public school districts to add time to each school day for the rest of the year to make up for January’s snow days.

The shift from a traditional days-based calendar to an alternate hourly calendar comes as January’s severe winter weather highlighted the LEARNS Act’s practical elimination of alternative methods of instruction (AMI) days, which districts used in recent years to offer virtual instruction when schools were closed for weather, disease outbreaks or utility outages.

While the LEARNS Act did not repeal the law that created AMI days, it does require at least 178 days or 1,078 hours of “on-site, in-person instruction” to receive state funding that supports increasing the state’s minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000.

State board approves waivers for Arkansas school districts moving to alternate calendars

Arkansas schools compress salary schedules in response to LEARNS Act

KUAR | By Antoinette Grajeda / Arkansas Advocate

From the Arkansas Advocate:

Nearly a third of Arkansas school districts no longer offer pay increases for experience or additional education, an immediate result of a new state law that increased the minimum teacher salary to $50,000 a year.

The LEARNS Act increased Arkansas’ minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000 and requires all teachers to receive at least a $2,000 raise for the 2023-2024 academic year.

The law also eliminated the state’s minimum salary schedule, which required pay increases for teachers with more education and experience. But districts must create a salary schedule to receive state funding that assists with the additional teacher compensation.

Arkansas schools compress salary schedules in response to LEARNS Act

Cristina Spano For NPR

Survey: A quarter would change schools with education freedom accounts

by Steve Brawner (BRAWNERSTEVE@MAC.COM)

A quarter of registered voters in Arkansas with K-12 students living in their homes said they would change their children’s learning environment if provided state funding for non-public school options. More than 61% had favorable opinions of those education freedom accounts.

The survey measured those two key facets of the LEARNS Act, the expansive education reform law passed by Gov. Sarah Sanders and legislators earlier this year.

Eight hundred registered voters were surveyed by telephone Aug. 24 through Sept. 8. The margin of error was plus-minus 3.94%.

You can access the survey results at this link.

Survey: A quarter would change schools with education freedom accounts

Implementation of Arkansas LEARNS Act continues with literacy coach training

KUAR | By Antoinette Grajeda / Arkansas Advocate

Dozens of coaches are preparing to help Arkansas students meet literacy standards outlined in the LEARNS Act, an expansive new education law backed by the governor.

During a training session Monday, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders told the new literacy coaches she knows the impact a single teacher can have on a student because an educator helped improve her daughter’s literacy skills after noticing she was “missing a couple of important markers when it came to reading.”

“When we challenge students, when we push them and when we raise the bar instead of lower it, they’re going to meet it because kids are absolutely resilient and amazing and each kid is capable of learning when given access to the right tools, the right resources and, frankly, the right teacher,” Sanders said.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-regional-news/2023-08-30/implementation-of-arkansas-learns-act-continues-with-literacy-coach-training

Screengrab From Livestream

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders gave remarks at a literacy coach training event on Aug. 28, 2023.

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.

Anti-LEARNS group CAPES believes it has enough signatures after all

by Steve Brawner (BRAWNERSTEVE@MAC.COM)

A day after saying it had failed to collect enough signatures to qualify its referendum for the ballot, the anti-LEARNS Act group Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students (CAPES) now says it thinks it qualified.

“It’s a wait and see but we expect the number to be above the needed initial count,” said CAPES Executive Director Steve Grappe.

After an all-out push, the all-volunteer group believed it was still 500 signatures short of the 54,422 it needed to qualify for the ballot when it submitted its signatures to the secretary of state’s office Monday (July 31).

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/08/anti-learns-group-capes-believes-it-has-enough-signatures-after-all/

Anti-LEARNS group CAPES believes it has enough signatures after all

by Steve Brawner (BRAWNERSTEVE@MAC.COM)

A day after saying it had failed to collect enough signatures to qualify its referendum for the ballot, the anti-LEARNS Act group Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students (CAPES) now says it thinks it qualified.

“It’s a wait and see but we expect the number to be above the needed initial count,” said CAPES Executive Director Steve Grappe.

After an all-out push, the all-volunteer group believed it was still 500 signatures short of the 54,422 it needed to qualify for the ballot when it submitted its signatures to the secretary of state’s office Monday (July 31).

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/08/anti-learns-group-capes-believes-it-has-enough-signatures-after-all/

Former Republican lawmaker appointed to Arkansas Board of Education

KUAR | By Daniel Breen

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has appointed a former Republican state lawmaker to the Arkansas Board of Education.

Sanders announced Thursday that Ken Bragg will serve on the nine-member board, replacing outgoing board chair Ouida Newton. Speaking at the state Capitol, Sanders said Bragg would seek to implement her signature education legislation known as Arkansas LEARNS.

“He helped us get LEARNS across the finish line, and now he’s back to help implement it across the state. Ken’s resume makes him more than qualified to take on this role,” Sanders said.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-regional-news/2023-07-14/former-republican-lawmaker-appointed-to-arkansas-board-of-education

Daniel Breen/KUAR News

Former Republican state Rep. Ken Bragg speaks alongside Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the Arkansas State Capitol on Thursday

Arkansas AG requests expedited appeal of LEARNS Act ruling

KUAR | By Antoinette Grajeda / Arkansas Advocate

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin on Wednesday filed a motion to expedite his appeal of a circuit court ruling that delays the effective date of the LEARNS Act, the governor’s signature education legislation. Griffin asked that the state Supreme Court respond by 8 a.m. Friday.

Griffin filed an appeal on July 3 of an order invalidating the law’s emergency clause, which would allow it go into effect immediately instead of 91 days after the end of the legislative session.

Pulaski County Judge Herbert Wright last month ruled the law’s emergency clause is invalid because it was not passed with a separate roll-call vote garnering a two-thirds majority, as required by the Arkansas Constitution.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-regional-news/2023-07-13/arkansas-ag-requests-expedited-appeal-of-learns-act-ruling

Courts.Arkansas.Gov/Courts.Arkansas.Gov