State of the State 2024: Arkansas’ education system in flux

Editor’s note: The State of the State series provides reports twice a year on Arkansas’ key economic sectors. The series publishes stories to begin a year and stories in July/August to provide a broad mid-year update on the state’s economy. Link here for the State of the State page and previous stories.

With details of the LEARNS Act still to be determined and a group hoping to make major changes to it with the November elections, the state of education in Arkansas is in flux.

Enacted into law last year, Gov. Sarah Sanders’ 145-page LEARNS Act changed Arkansas education in many ways, two in particular. First, it increased state minimum teacher salaries from $36,000 to $50,000 and required all teachers this year to receive at least a $2,000 raise. It also repealed the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act.

Second, it created a voucher system of educational freedom accounts allowing families access to roughly $6,600 in state funds to use for private and homeschooling options this year. Only 1.5% of public school students are eligible to receive the vouchers this school year, and they must meet certain criteria. Next year that number rises to 3%, again based on criteria. But in year three, there will be no restriction on the percentage of eligible students.

The idea of paying teachers $50,000 is not controversial. However, many school district superintendents have struggled with maintaining salary schedules that traditionally have increased salaries based largely on experience and education.

An analysis by the online news site Arkansas Advocate found that 71 of the state’s 234 traditional districts enacted salary schedule matrixes this year that in general would pay a flat $50,000 to teachers of all education and experience levels. The law required every teacher to receive at least a $2,000 raise. Star City Superintendent Jordan Frizzell said in the article that he is looking for answers about the state’s long-term plans.

“We just try to make the best decisions and try to stay financially stable, but there’s a lot of guesswork to it, and that’s the scary part of it,” he said.

School leaders are considering different compensation packages, said Dr. Mike Hernandez, executive director of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators. He said many veteran teachers want raises that match their experience.

“Districts are really having to think through, alongside with their staff, what’s an appropriate path forward that doesn’t break the bank but also rewards (teachers),” he said.

TEACHER PAY, RETENTION
Dr. Bob Maranto, the 21st Century Chair in Leadership in the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas, believes the teacher pay raise will be more impactful than the educational freedom accounts. It represents a significant pay increase in the Delta and the Ozarks. The higher starting salary will increase the labor pool and make it possible for superintendents to fire bad teachers. However, the state will need to continue increasing teacher pay, he said.

Hernandez doesn’t expect to see many staff cuts unless a district loses funding because of student losses. Even with the salary increase, schools are still struggling to fill positions.

“I think the mindset is trying to retain teachers and recruit new ones, and so I don’t really see a reality where lots of teachers might be dismissed because it’s not like there’s a lot of them there to be replacing them with,” he said. “And so I think the focus probably in districts is trying to improve and retain what they have.”

As for the educational freedom accounts, Hernandez said state funding is based on the prior year’s average daily membership of students. Those numbers won’t be drastically affected by the accounts this year, although they will be in the future.

Dr. Patrick Wolf, the 21st Century Endowed Chair in School Choice in the UA’s Department of Education Reform, said LEARNS will lead to better test scores over time. While studies find a variety of effects from school choice programs, the results generally have been positive, he said. He said the programs don’t lead to a stampede of students leaving public schools. Often those who do leave were not succeeding.

“I think there’s a substantial amount of research to support the fact that parents are the world’s foremost experts on their children,” he said. “And with proper information, with accurate and extensive information about school choices, they’ll have the ability to match their child to the best school for them, and that should result in positive outcomes for kids.”

The future of LEARNS remains unclear. Many details, including private school accountability, were left to the ongoing rulemaking process. Maranto said one other issue to watch is declining overall student populations because birth rates have declined.

“Everybody – district schools, charter schools, private schools – they all might be fighting over a declining pie. … That’ll make the politics a lot nastier,” he said.

‘ACCOUNTABILITY’ BALLOT ISSUE
Meanwhile, a group, For AR Kids, is trying to qualify for the November ballot a constitutional amendment that would require all schools, including private ones, that receive state funds to meet the same academic and accreditation standards. The coalition includes the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, the Arkansas chapter of the NAACP, the Arkansas Education Association, and CAPES. CAPES last year tried unsuccessfully to qualify a referendum for the November 2024 ballot that could have overturned LEARNS.

Bill Kopsky, For AR Kids’ treasurer and the executive director of the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, said in a press conference Dec. 21 that the proposal would level the playing field between public and private schools. For AR Kids released a March poll of 500 Arkansas voters by Blueprint Polling where 77.1% agreed that schools receiving public funds should have identical academic and accreditation standards.

“Public money should bring public standards, public transparency, and public accountability. … Taxpayers have a right to know that their tax dollars are being spent effectively,” he said.

The proposed amendment also would obligate the state to provide universal access to early childhood education, universal access to after school and summer programs, assistance to children within 200% of the federal poverty line, and supports and services for students with disabilities. The amendment also would write into the Constitution the elements of an adequate education that were described by the Arkansas Supreme Court in its Lake View school funding case.

The group has resubmitted its proposal to Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office after Griffin rejected its first draft.

COVID IMPACT
School districts are responding to the learning loss that occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While Arkansas reopened schools faster than many states, Wolf said there nevertheless were many disruptions, and the drops in test scores here were similar to the national average. Scholars debate the long-term effects. He tends to believe that younger students can recover, but a cohort of high school students likely will not be as prepared as they would have been.

Schools have been helped by $1.77 billion in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) federal funding they received during the pandemic. So far, they have spent $1.59 billion, or almost 90%, according to the Arkansas Department of Education’s website. In addition to student support, they’ve spent the money on systemic procedures, facilities, technology and food security.

School districts were taken by surprise last year by steep increases in property insurance rates. These were the result of costly natural disasters including the tornado that destroyed most of Wynne High School, along with rising construction costs. In response, Sanders issued an executive order to cover 30% of the increases, while legislators are considering changes to the program.

Schools also are preparing this spring to administer the Arkansas Teaching and Learning Assessment System (ATLAS) test, the state’s new end-of-the-year assessment for grades 3-8. State officials say it better aligns with state standards than the ACT Aspire test it replaced.