A new paradigm for Arkansas education begins Tuesday when Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' education overhaul, the LEARNS Act, comes into effect.
In March, Sanders signed Act 237, the LEARNS Act into law, which Sanders called "the biggest, most far-reaching, conservative education reform in America." The LEARNS Act, which passed mostly along partisan lines in the Republican-dominated General Assembly, is Sanders' vision of how to improve education in Arkansas.
The LEARNS Act -- which standards for Literacy, Empowerment, Accountability, Readiness, Networking and Safety -- includes a new universal school choice program, increased starting pay for teachers and higher literacy standards for third graders. The LEARNS Act will cost $297.5 million in its first year and $343.3 million in the second year.
Most of the hotly debated 145-page education bill was originally supposed to come into effect in March when the Republican governor signed it, but because of a lawsuit from a group of Phillips County residents and two education activists, the law instead will take effect Tuesday.
While the law officially comes into effect this week, many of its key provisions will be phased in over the next three years. Along with the LEARNS Act, the Legislature passed an increase in per-student funding, part of what lawmakers call the adequacy process. The increased state funding for public schools includes for raises for school support staff and cost-of-living raises for teachers.
Under the LEARNS...
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