A ballot committee calling itself “For AR Kids” is proposing a constitutional amendment that would expand the state’s obligation to provide an adequate education to public school students in Arkansas.
The amendment would mandate that the state require every primary or secondary school receiving local or state funds comply with identical state academic standards and identical state accreditation standards, including state and school assessments of those standards.
The failure of any non-public schools to comply with identical state academic standards and identical state standards of accreditation, including student and school assessments of those standards, would result in the loss of local or state funds, under the proposed amendment.
The amendment would add the following requirements to the state’s obligation to provide an adequate public school education:
Universal access to voluntary early childhood education for students 3 years old until they qualify for kindergarten.
Universal access to voluntary after-school and summer programs necessary for the achievement of an adequate education.
Assistance to children who are within 200% of the federal poverty line so that qualifying children can achieve an adequate education and overcome the negative impact of poverty on education
Support and services that fully meet the individualized needs of students with disabilities to allow them meaningful access to integrated education.
The proposed amendment would also spell out that an adequate education means every child educated in the school should develop to full capacity a minimum of literacy, mathematical ability, knowledge of government sufficient to equip the individual to make informed choices as a citizen, self-knowledge sufficient to intelligently chose life work, vocational or advanced academic training, recreational pursuits, creative interests and social ethics.
The proposed popular name for the proposed constitutional amendment is the Educational Rights Amendment of 2024.
“The people of Arkansas are ready for something better,” Steve Grappe, executive director for the Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students (CAPES), said Thursday at a news conference at the state Capitol.
“We are ready to stand up as citizens and say we are going to take this on ourselves,” he said. “We are going to take the power into our own hands, and we are going to change the education system for the betterment of our kids.”
The attorney general’s certification of the proposed popular name and the proposed ballot title for the committee’s proposed constitutional amendment is required to open the door for the committee to start collecting signatures of registered voters to try to get the committee’s proposed constitutional amendment on the general election ballot.
The committee is required to turn in 90,704 signatures of registered voters, including signatures from 50 counties, by July 5 to the secretary of state’s office to qualify its proposed constitutional amendment for the 2024 general election ballot.
The For AR Kids ballot committee’s president is Barry Jefferson, president of the Arkansas Conference of the NAACP, and the committee’s vice president is Arkansas Education Association President April Reisma.
The committee includes the Arkansas Conference of the NAACP, the Arkansas Education Association, Arkansas Public Policy Panel, Citizens First Congress and CAPES, according to the committee’ statement of organization filed with the Arkansas Ethics Commission.
CAPES led an unsuccessful effort to repeal the LEARNS Act through a ballot referendum, but fell short of submitting enough signatures of registered voters to qualify the proposed referendum to the ballot.
The LEARNS Act is Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ signature education initiative.
