State Senator Matt Stone
LITTLE ROCK – The state will continue to accept applications from families who want to fund their children’s tuition with Education Freedom Accounts, and perhaps as early as February the state will begin accepting applications for next school year.
The governor proposed and the legislature created the funding mechanism during the regular session earlier this year. About 5,000 students have been approved and their families are receiving $6,672 to help pay for the cost of private or parochial schools. However, students who had been in the Succeed Scholarship program qualify for $7,413.
There is funding for about 1,500 additional students this year. Next school year, and estimated 13,000 students will be able to apply, according to the assistant commissioner for school choice in the state Division of Elementary and Secondary Education. He spoke to parents and interested people during a digital hearing on the Internet.
In school year 2025-2026, the families of all Arkansas students may apply for funding from Education Freedom Accounts.
The accounts are a component of Act 237 of 2023, also known as the LEARNS Act. That is an acronym for literacy, empowerment, accountability, readiness, networking and safety.
Under the act, private schools may apply to qualify for the accounts, and so far 94 schools, or about 70 percent of all the private schools in Arkansas, have been approved.
Earlier in October a national organization, the American Legislative Exchange Council, ranked Arkansas second in the country for parental empowerment, thanks to the LEARNS Act. Arkansas was one of only three states to earn an “A” from the organization for parental empowerment.
Act 237 also raises minimum teacher salaries to $50,000. Teachers who already make more than the minimum got a $2,000 raise. Full-time teachers can get 12 weeks of paid maternity leave.
The act increases the amount that teachers can receive for student loan repayment, from $3,000 to $6,000 for teachers who pledge to stay in Arkansas.
It repeals the teacher fair dismissal law.
The act emphasizes several methods to improve literacy in the early grades. The state will hire 120 literacy coaches who will concentrate on schools that scored a D or an F on school report cares. Families of children struggling with literacy can get a $500 stipend to pay for a tutor. The standard in literacy for advancing to third grade will be higher.
Too many Arkansas children do not read at grade level, so under the LEARNS Act the state will provide high quality material so that all classrooms can use methods based on the science of reading. A goal of the act is to ensure that all elementary school teachers have been trained in the science of reading.
The LEARNS Act requires high school students to complete 75 hours of community service in order to graduate.
It allows high school students to choose a curriculum focused on technical and vocational subjects that will further their path toward a well-paid job. If high school students don’t believe they are suited for higher education, they won’t be limited to the conventional core of academic subjects.
The act directs the state will commit to more school safety measures, continuing the push to provide high speed Internet in all Arkansas schools.
