Katherine Munal is a Legislative Director for ExcelinEd in Action. In this role, she works with leaders and lawmakers from the Gulf region to promote student-centered solutions focused on educational quality, innovation and opportunity.
In a year that saw historic state legislative action on K-12 education proposals across the nation, few states passed as broad and comprehensive a slate of student-centered policies as the Natural State.
Inspired by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ bold 145-page Arkansas LEARNS Act proposal, lawmakers built a framework of policies that prioritizes the foundational needs of students and ensures they have high-quality learning options.
That framework starts with attracting and retaining strong teachers with a new, across-the-board pay increase, raising the current minimum salary for teachers from $36,000 to $50,000 and providing $2,000 raises to more veteran teachers. To even further support full-time school employees, Arkansas now offers 12 weeks of paid maternity leave. For teachers whose students achieve above expectations and for teachers willing to teach in high-demand areas, Arkansas also will ensure pay raise incentives of up to $10,000.
The Arkansas LEARNS Act also creates a Teacher Academy Scholarship Program, which will cover prospective educators’ tuition costs. Education students who pledge to teach in a designated Arkansas public school can claim student loan repayment of up to $6,000 per year.
Since 2017, educational opportunity outside of Arkansas’s traditional school-zone system has been limited to specific populations. This year, state lawmakers took a huge leap, creating a bold education scholarship account program – the Arkansas Children’s Educational Freedom Account Program (EFA) – that will be open to every K-12 student by 2025, with highest-need students prioritized first.
What makes this program unique from the state’s existing school voucher and tax-credit scholarship programs is that parents have more control over how their scholarship funds are spent. They can use EFA funds on much more than private school tuition and fees to create a truly customized educational approach for their child. Covered expenses can include items such as uniforms, tutoring, curriculum, learning supplies, textbooks, transportation and education-related technology.
EFA scholarships will be worth 90 percent of the state’s foundation funding spent per student, which is about $7,349 in 2022-23. Each year, any unspent funds remain in the student’s account until they graduate high school, which means parents can roll funds over from year to year.
The foundation for all learning success is reading. After this year’s legislative session, Arkansas now has a strong, science-based suite of early literacy policies – a critical need considering only 35 percent of the state’s third graders are reading at grade level.
To best equip teachers, schools must now provide professional development training in the science of reading.
Students will no longer start fourth grade without being able to read at grade level, a critical point in their development when reading proficiency is needed for all other learning. Providing additional instructional time for students who are still struggling to read before moving onto fourth grade is a proven policy that increases their odds of learning success.
Parents can take heart knowing this intervention policy isn’t retention for retention’s sake. There will be additional academic supports in place for struggling readers. Families will receive timely notification about early interventions for their child. Teachers and families will work together to ensure each student is best prepared to succeed. The new law also calls for 120 literacy coaches throughout the state plus grants for families to hire reading tutors.
High school graduates who are prepared to succeed in careers and in life is a hallmark of a successful K-12 education system. And Arkansas lawmakers this year prioritized stronger career pathways.
First, new legislation calls for the creation of a new workforce dashboard that allows families and students to find high-demand careers in their communities.
High school students will also have the option to earn a high school diploma through a “career-ready pathway,” in which a student can take classes to prepare for a career that does not require a college degree, such as in automotive mechanics or agriculture. By 2024-25, the law requires all high schools to offer students career-ready pathways in career and technical education (CTE) that are aligned with high-wage, high-growth jobs in Arkansas.
When fully implemented, this remarkable transformation of Arkansas’ education policies is sure to yield exciting results. Yet the clear benefits these policies will bring to students and their families has not stopped the status quo from opposing change. Just last week, Arkansas CAPES submitted ballot referendum signatures to the Secretary of State, who over the next month must determine if there is enough verified support to trigger putting the Arkansas LEARNS Act on the 2024 ballot.
Despite this latest challenge, the future is bright with strong policy and strong leadership in Gov. Sanders, State Superintendent of Education Jacob Oliva, Sen. Breann Davis, Rep. Keith Brooks and the Arkansas legislature who understand the work to improve education never ends.
Arkansas is certainly a state to watch.
