ARKANSAS LEARNS ACT: AUGUST 2024 UPDATE

The Arkansas LEARNS Act, spearheaded through the legislature by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders during the 2023 session, overhauled the state's educational system. The goals of the change are to improve literacy, enhance parental empowerment, increase teacher accountability, prepare students for careers, expand high-speed internet networking, and improve school safety. Here’s a closer look at some of the key components of LEARNS as we head into its second year.

L: Literacy

Improving literacy rates is a cornerstone of the LEARNS Act. The law mandates literacy screening for K-3rd grade students and provides literacy coaches for teachers in underperforming schools. By the 2025-2026 school year, LEARNS stipulates that students who do not meet 3rd grade reading standards will not be promoted to 4th grade. LEARNS also establishes math intervention plans for students in grades 3rd–8th grades to provide support to students not performing at grade level.

E: Empowerment

One well-publicized aspect of the LEARNS Act is the introduction of school vouchers through the Educational Freedom Account (EFA) program. EFA provides state funding to be used for eligible students for private school tuition, homeschooling expenses, or other approved educational costs. As of this month, over 16,000 applications have been submitted for the EFA program. Full implementation of the EFA program is expected by the 2025-2026 school year when any student will be eligible to apply for the assistance.

Heading into this school year, 120 Arkansas private schools are eligible to accept EFA funds. Schools seeking eligibility for the program must meet various accreditation, testing and reporting, administrative, and financial and employee standards.

A: Accountability

The LEARNS Act implements incentives to attract and retain quality educators, most notably increasing teacher salaries and establishing a merit pay system to reward educators. The minimum teacher salary was raised from $36,000 to $50,000 to make Arkansas more competitive in attracting top talent.

The Merit Teacher Incentive Fund Program provides bonuses of up to $10,000 to teachers who demonstrate a positive impact on student growth, mentor aspiring teachers, or work in critical shortage areas. This June, Governor Sanders and Arkansas Department of Education Secretary Jacob Oliva announced 3,000 teachers would receive a bonus through this initiative. The Arkansas Department of Education shows that over 20% of teachers in the Cross County, DeWitt, and McGhee school districts received a bonus ranking them at the top in the state.

R: Readiness

To better prepare students for the workforce, the LEARNS Act will establish new graduation pathways that align with high-wage, high-growth jobs. Starting this school year, 9th graders will have the option to earn a diploma through a career-ready pathway. The first of the required annual audits of the state’s career pathways recommended that the state’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs transition seamlessly to postsecondary credential programs and improve alignment between CTE programs of study and high-demand occupations.    

Beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, students will be required to complete 75 hours of community service as a requirement for graduation while emphasizing the importance of civic engagement and providing students with important real-world experience. With an estimated 39,000 students expected to graduate in 2027, this could generate a statewide total of nearly 3 million hours of community service.

N: Networking

One sometimes overlooked piece of the LEARNS Act is the expansion of high-speed internet to make it easier for students to access educational and career opportunities. The Secretary of Education was tasked with partnering with the Department of Commerce to support efforts to expand broadband across the state and to monitor access to high-speed internet for teaching, learning, and school operations. As a result, 100% of the state’s school districts have internet connections that can deliver 1 Mbps per student. The goal is for every student to have 2 Mbps broadband speed.

S: School Safety 

School safety is another critical focus of the LEARNS Act, mandating comprehensive school safety assessments, increased training for school resource officers, and improved emergency protocols. School resource officers must undergo 40 hours of basic training within 18 months of hiring, annual continuing education, and training on youth mental health. Public schools and charter schools are also required to conduct comprehensive safety assessments every three years and hold annual lockdown drills to ensure preparedness in the event of an emergency.

As LEARNS reforms are rolled out over the next few years, the impact on students, teachers, and communities will be closely watched, with the potential to serve as a model for other states looking to revamp their educational landscape.