(The Center Square) – A proposed ballot question would require free pre-K, after-school, and summer programs for Arkansas’ school children.
The ballot question, called the Educational Rights Amendment of 2024, would also include universal access to academic help for low-income children and guarantee access to quality education for the state’s special needs children.
“These four reforms represent the best opportunity we have to give our students the tools they need,” said Bill Kopsky, executive director of the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, at a news conference Thursday. “The evidence is unbelievably clear that these programs work.”
Several groups are joining the Arkansan Public Policy Panel in backing the ballot amendment, including the Arkansas Education Association, Arkansas Conference of the NAACP, Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students and Citizens First Congress.
The ballot question would establish the same academic standards and accreditation for any school receiving taxpayer funds. That includes “appropriations or designations of such funds for the benefit of any student attending the school to cover or defray costs of attending the school (and) tax benefits or tax credits for the benefit of the school,” according to the ballot question.
“Taxpayers have a right to know that their tax dollars are being spent effectively,” Kopsky said.
The proposed constitutional amendment would also require the state to establish minimum education standards for covering subjects like math and reading.
The LEARNS Act, passed by the Arkansas Legislature, does not include what is in the ballot question, Kopsky said.
The nearly $300 million omnibus LEARNS bill provided “Educational Freedom Accounts” for all students by the 2025-2026 school year. The bill also raised all teacher salaries to a minimum of $50,000. Other portions of the LEARNS Act provided tutors for third-graders and school safety measures.
The proposed constitutional amendment will be submitted to Attorney General Tim Griffin for his certification before the groups can start collecting signatures. The groups need more than 90,000 signatures to get it on the November 2024 ballot.
