Arkansas education co-ops concerned about effect of reduced funding • Arkansas Advocate
The Sanders administration’s proposal to reduce funding for Arkansas’ 15 education service cooperatives has co-op directors concerned about the impact on students, especially those in smaller school districts. Fourteen cooperatives would receive $4.3 million less in state funds next fiscal year under the Department of Education’s 2025 budget proposal, according to estimates provided to the […]
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Arkansas school districts offer affordable teacher housing as recruitment tool • Arkansas Advocate
The Lee County School District celebrated its teacher housing project with a groundbreaking ceremony on Feb. 20, 2024. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate) A national trend of using teacher housing as a recruitment and retention tool has arrived in Arkansas where at least two districts want to use their resources to offer teachers affordable housing. Several other […]
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More Arkansas school districts hiring unlicensed teachers to cope with staff shortage • Arkansas Advocate
(Getty Images) One in 12 educators working in Arkansas public schools are unlicensed or teaching outside of their certification area. That number has more than doubled in the last seven years, an Advocate analysis of state data found, as districts have used additional licensure exceptions to cope with teacher shortages. Research is mixed about what […]
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State board approves waivers for Arkansas school districts moving to alternate calendars
Arkansas education officials on Wednesday voted to allow half the state’s public school districts to add time to each school day for the rest of the year to make up for January’s snow days. The shift from a traditional days-based calendar to an alternate hourly calendar comes as January’s severe winter weather highlighted the LEARNS […]
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Arkansas school districts consider alternate calendar to address inclement weather
Arkansas school districts are seeking unique ways to address inclement weather closures without using alternative methods of instruction (AMI) days, including requesting waivers to transition to an alternate calendar mid-year. This month’s severe winter weather highlighted the LEARNS Act’s practical elimination of AMI days, which allow districts to offer virtual instruction when schools are closed […]
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Arkansas lawmaker considers legislation to restore remote learning flexibility
Arkansas’ first major snow since the passage of the LEARNS Act brought renewed attention to its practical elimination of alternative methods of instruction (AMI) days. With school canceled last week in much of the state, many districts will be tacking on make-up days at the end of the school year, but one state lawmaker is […]
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Arkansas schools compress salary schedules in response to LEARNS Act
Nearly a third of Arkansas school districts no longer offer pay increases for experience or additional education, an immediate result of a new state law that increased the minimum teacher salary to $50,000 a year. The LEARNS Act increased Arkansas’ minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000 and requires all teachers to receive at least […]
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Arkansas opts into new federal food assistance program for children during summer break
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Google-News-Wire
- January 4, 2024
- arkansas department of education
- Arkansas department of human services
- arkansas hunger relief alliance
- Consolidated Appropriations Act
- EBT
- food stamps
- free and reduced price lunch
- jim pillen
- John Boozman
- kathy webb
- Kevin Stitt
- Kim Reynolds
- kristi putnam
- national school lunch program
- Non-Congregate Summer Meal Service
- nutrition assistance
- Sarah Huckabee Sanders
- summer EBT
- usda
- WIC
Arkansas will participate in a federal program providing food assistance for children during summer break from school this year, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Tuesday. Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer, or Summer EBT, will provide $120 in food benefits for each Arkansas child eligible for the National School Lunch Program, a U.S. Department of Agriculture service […]
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Arkansas educators examine revised AP African American Studies curriculum
Arkansas schools offering an AP African American Studies pilot are examining course revisions released Wednesday as they consider whether to offer the class next year, pending state approval. College Board, the organization that administers Advanced Placement (AP) courses and exams, asked experts to revisit the course “amid intense public debate over the course,” according to […]
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Federal funds helped Arkansas childcare providers stay afloat, but staffing struggles continue
Sherrie Gillespie wasn’t sure if the daycare center she runs in Monticello would survive the COVID-19 pandemic. “I may have stayed open, but I know I would have had to cut some services in order to maintain payroll and pay bills,” she said. Thanks to $445,000 in federal grant funds, Head of the Class Childcare […]
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