Under Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the education department is so far down the rabbit hole of “anti-woke” politics that they’re more invested in childishly trying to own the libs than providing the best possible educational opportunities for every kid in every district.
Arkansas Learns
Posted inArkansas Blog
State Board of Education okays LEARNS rules for maternity leave, teacher merit bonuses
The education department is in charge of crafting the rules by which the governor’s LEARNS Act will be implemented.
Posted inArkansas Blog
The voucher funding rip-off
Former Little Rock School District superintend Baker Kurrus argues that the funding for vouchers, woven into the state’s complicated system for funding K-12 schools, violates the state constitution and moves us backward on thorny issues of equity that the state has been trying to address for decades.
Posted inArkansas Blog
Judge partly sides with plaintiffs suing to stop Arkansas’s ban on ‘critical race theory,’ ‘indoctrination’
Though Judge Lee Rudofsky’s ruling was narrow, he said it “should give comfort to teachers across the state” that they won’t be broadly punished for the content of their lessons — even “critical race theory.”
Posted inArkansas Blog
For more and more Arkansas schools, 4 days are better than 5
In the 2019-20 year, only four schools in Arkansas were operating on a four-day schedule. By the 2023-24 school year, there were 89 — a more than twentyfold increase.
Posted inArkansas Blog
Most voucher students are not coming from public schools
Do vouchers mostly benefit kids coming from public schools, or those already in private school? A journey into the weeds of the academic debate on vouchers.
Posted inArkansas Blog
Sanders and Republican legislators pour money into vouchers and tax cuts while crucial programs suffer
Total funding for two-year colleges was slashed by $848,319, a 0.72% cut compared to last year. Seven two-year colleges were hit with cuts of 2% or more.
Posted inArkansas Blog
Judge hears arguments in lawsuit over LEARNS ban on ‘indoctrination,’ ‘critical race theory’
Section 16 “was written in such a vague, reckless way” that even the education secretary “cannot figure out what it means and how it has to be enforced,” a plaintiff’s attorney said.
Posted inArkansas Blog
Education Secretary Jacob Oliva spouts standard LEARNS talking points at Rotary Club
The governor’s favorite pitch man keeps selling LEARNS, but he skipped over a few details.
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Federal judge schedules hearing in Arkansas LEARNS lawsuit
Judge Rudofsky denied a portion of the plaintiffs’ request for an expedited briefing schedule because they could have filed their complaint and preliminary injunction months ago, he wrote.