Session a LEARNS experience

Education reform package dominates; now, schools begin to adapt to new realities

One hundred nineteen of the 196 education-related bills tracked by ASBA in the 94th General Assembly became law, but none attracted more attention or will have more of an impact than the LEARNS Act.

The 145-page law was Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ signature piece of legislation. The first part of the legislative session was dominated by the wait for it. Once the bill was filed Feb. 20, it was obvious it was headed to passage with 25 sponsors in the Senate and 55 in the House. A little more than two weeks later, Sanders signed it.

Now school districts must prepare for the upcoming school year under LEARNS while watching to see what happens with the rulemaking process, which will flesh out much of the law.

Meanwhile, they are keeping an eye on a lawsuit filed by individuals from the Marvell-Elaine School District and education advocates that affects when the law will take effect.

The plaintiffs say the State Board of Education illegally directed the Department of Education to enter into a transformation contract with the Friendship Education Foundation, a charter organization, to manage the district. They say lawmakers did not pass the act’s emergency clause in a separate vote from the bill as the Constitution requires. With no emergency clause, the law would not take effect until Aug. 1.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright placed a temporary restraining order on the LEARNS Act, but on June 15, the Supreme Court vacated the order in a 5-2 decision and remanded the case back to Wright for a hearing June 20.

The majority ruling addressed only the order, not the case’s merits. However, four of the seven justices indicated in their concurring opinions that they believe the state cannot be sued in its own courts, that the courts cannot interfere with how legislators set their own rules, or that the case won’t succeed on its own merits.

Also worth watching is an attempt by Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students, or CAPES, to place on the November 2024 ballot a referendum letting voters reject the law. It remains to be seen how that will play out.

Two aspects of the legislation attracted the most attention: raising the minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000, and the Arkansas Children’s Education Freedom Account Program.

The latter will give parents access to 90% of per pupil school foundation funding for non-public school options like private schools and homeschooling. That money will come out of the funding that would have gone to their local public school, had they attended it.

Families won’t be getting a $7,000 check from the state. Instead the money will go for qualifying expenses like private school tuition and fees, testing, uniforms, tutoring, and curricula but not TVs and video games. Private schools must be at least on a path toward reaching private school accreditation standards and must administer a test that will be approved by the State Board of Education, though it may not be the same test public schools take.

Eligibility for the program will phase in over three years. Beginning next year, it will be open to 1.5% of total public school enrollment. Eligibility will be targeted to students with disabilities, homeless students, students in foster care,

Succeed Scholarship recipients, students from active military families, students within the boundaries of F-rated schools or Level 5 intensive support school districts, and students entering kindergarten. In year two, the cap rises to 3.5% of total public school enrollment. Targeted eligibility expands to students within attendance zones of D- or F-rated schools, and also students whose parents are military veterans or reservists, first responders and law enforcement officers. The third year, 2025-26, it will be available to all students.

Dan Jordan, ASBA director of government relations, said ASBA would like to see universal, transparent accountability measures enacted for all schools that accept students using the education freedom accounts. Comparable data should be required so parents can make informed choices.

He said ASBA had a meeting with the governor before the session where she shared the plan’s basic concepts.

“We were fortunate to discuss several items important to us including school safety, mental health, broadband, among other items in general,” he said. “We specifically asked for continued local control for school boards and for accountability in meeting student academic outcomes for all schools that receive public funds, directly or indirectly.”

The education freedom accounts were among the law’s most controversial aspects. Jordan said that regardless of what school leaders thought about the LEARNS Act, it’s the law, and they must make it work for their districts.

“It is now a piece of our history,” he said. “Schools should look for positive ways to implement the act and think outside the box in the implementation phase.”

Teacher salaries go up

The other high-profile aspect of LEARNS involved raising the minimum

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teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000, while also providing all teachers a $2,000 raise. A Merit Teacher Incentive Fund Program will award annual bonuses of up to $10,000 to teachers who demonstrate outstanding growth in student performance. The law also creates the Arkansas Teacher Academy Scholarship, which covers tuition costs for students and current educators. Student loan repayments would be increased from $3,000 to $6,000 per year for students who teach in high-need areas. It also includes an option for districts to provide employees 12 weeks of maternity leave, with the state reimbursing half.

Few people in public schools would oppose paying teachers more, but there are some concerns with this part of the law. It doesn’t provide additional funding beyond the $2,000 for those employees already making $48,001 regardless of where the employee may have been in the district’s salary schedule. As a result, many school districts have flattened their salary schedules separating their veteran teachers from their beginning ones. It doesn’t fund staff who are funded by the federal government. The funding is based on 178 in-person days or 1,068 hours; it makes no provision for alternative methods of instruction that could arise for various reasons.

Perhaps more concerning is the way the salary increases are being funded –out of the general fund, which is flush with a surplus thanks largely to COVID dollars that are going away – rather than through the more permanent, alwaysincreasing per pupil foundation funding. Act 744 set the state’s per pupil foundation funding at $7,413 for 2022-23, $7,618 for 2023-24, and $7,771 for 2024-25. This was considerably less than what was recommended by the House and Senate Education Committees during the adequacy process. The Legislature also did not increase Enhanced Student Achievement categorical funding. Jordan said ASBA hopes future raises will be included in foundation funding amounts.

While educators will be receiving pay raises, they also will face more accountability measures. The law repealed the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act and also the

Public School Employee Fair Hearing Act as of June 30, making it much easier for school districts to remove poorly functioning personnel. Staff will no longer be automatically renewed. Those who are terminated, but not nonrenewed, must be given notice and must have an opportunity for a hearing before the school board. Jeremy Lassiter, Bryant School District attorney, noted at the ASBA/AAEA Joint Leadership Conference May 2 that the LEARNS Act forbids schools from providing additional due process rights beyond what already exists in state law or in the LEARNS Act. In fact, schools won’t be funded for the minimum salaries and the $2,000 raises if they do.

Dr. Mike Hernandez, executive director of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators, said at the conference that school districts now have more flexibility to pay their teachers in different ways if they choose to do so. AAEA will be forming groups to create compensation models.

“If you want to identify your best and your brightest, and you want to pile on responsibilities and put kids in that class and pay them a lot more than you pay somebody else, you have that ability to do that,” he said. “If you wanted to do incentive pay in your school, you have the ability to do that.”

The law also has other elements tied to accountability – the “A” in “LEARNS.” District and school targets for achievement and graduation rates will be part of future superintendent contracts. Superintendents must consult with teachers regarding principal hires. Superintendents and principals must base employment rating decisions on performance, effectiveness, and qualifications. District reduction-in-force policies must be based primarily on effectiveness rather than seniority or other elements.

‘L’ stands for ‘literacy’

The “L” in LEARNS stands for “literacy.” The most high-profile element requires third grade students to be reading at grade level in order to advance to the fourth grade. The act includes numerous provisions for exemptions, the rules have yet to be written, and students would only be retained once, but it’s a provision schools can’t afford to ignore. School districts that don’t retain students will need a process in place for supporting the student with more staff, resources and money. The law also provides for 120 literacy specialists who will focus on D and F schools.

At the Joint Leadership Conference, DESE Deputy Commissioner Stacy Smith said districts should monitor prog- ress, determine if students are reading at grade level, and be able to determine how many students need an intervention. She said school board members should ask what the system is, how students are being screened in primary grades, how middle school students who need additional intervention are being identified, and whether the school offers specific courses for those students in a class period and not just after school.

Numerous parts of the law are contained in the “R” part of the law, “Readiness.” Those include a requirement that students be offered student success pathways. Starting with the ninth grade class of 2024-25, public high school students will have the option of earning a diploma through a career-ready pathway with classes aligned with high-wage, high-growth jobs. The pathways will be primarily designed for students seeking stackable credentials as they pursue degrees or certifications or immediately enter a career upon graduation. The diplomas will be considered equal to traditional diplomas. Public schools will review the pathways with local business leaders, economic development agencies, and postsecondary educators. They will expand offerings through courses, industry training programs and digital learning opportunities. If a teacher is unavailable to teach a course, a school can partner with another school district or educational entity or use technology.

Under previous law, Arkansas students by the eighth grade were required to have a student success plan containing college and career planning components developed by school personnel, parents and the students themselves.

The LEARNS Act further requires schools with an approved career-ready pathway to annually conduct an informational meeting for parents of eighth-graders about the curriculum. It also requires school districts to provide career awareness and exploration activities such as field trips and dedicated curricula for sixth-, seventh- and eighthgraders.

Rep. Brian Evans, R-Cabot, the chair of the House Education Committee and a 10-year Cabot School Board veteran, said that aspect of the LEARNS Act will help prepare students for work. When he was at Cabot, the school district felt it did a good job meeting the needs of its top 20% and bottom 20% of students. The other 60% were not as well served. The LEARNS Act will better serve what he called “the middle of the middle.”

“I think by putting additional resources into the school systems, there are going to be more programs and CTE opportunities within each of those school districts,” he said in an interview. “And I think that it’s putting an awareness with partnerships of different trades, different occupations to partner with schools to help get students job ready.”

There is plenty related to the “S” for “Safety.” Many provisions grew out of

Continued on next page recommendations of the Arkansas School Safety Commission.

Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson reactivated that commission last year after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, after originally creating it after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018. Districts must complete school safety assessments every three years, with the first due by Aug. 1, 2024. The Criminal Justice Institute and Division of Elementary and Secondary Education will have to provide guidelines for districts to follow. Districts must also provide a system where safety concerns can be anonymously reported. School districts must have a policy requiring mental health training for staff and must establish behavioral health intervention teams. At the Joint Leadership Conference, DESE’s Smith said school districts should become aware of easy safety measures, like locking classroom doors.

Among the LEARNS Act’s other provisions is a requirement that students complete 75 hours of community service in order to graduate. It also prohibits instruction using sexually explicit materials or instruction using critical race theory.

ASBA’s legislative package

Outside of the LEARNS Act, lawmakers passed many other educationrelated bills. Four of ASBA’s five bills became law while the fifth was deferred because another bill accomplished the same goal.

Act 883 makes a number of major changes to school board law, including adding five circumstances when a board of directors can enter executive session: pre-litigation discussions, litigation updates, settlement offer discussions, superintendent contracts, and to discuss real property. It also allows the district’s attorney to participate in an executive session when requested by the board. The law also allows the Ethics Commission to investigate ethics complaints against board members. The law goes into effect May 1, 2024.

Among the other laws that were part of ASBA’s package was Act 425, which requires each monthly school board agenda to include something about student achievement; Act 745, which authorizes a board to consolidate identical individually filed grievances of a group of employees; and Act 750, which statutorily reinforced that appointed board members are not eligible to serve as a holdover member if no one runs for their position.

One ASBA bill was deferred because Act 424 accomplished a similar goal by repealing the requirement that districts that reach a 10% or greater minority population in a census must then rezone.

Other bills passed by lawmakers included several related to school elections, including Act 300, which limits the dates for special elections to the preferential primary and general elections during even years, and to the second Tuesdays in May and in November in odd years. Under Act 276, the filing period for school districts using the fall election cycle is 90 days before the elec- tion whether in an even or odd year. Act 305 eliminates write-in candidates as an option for all elections, including school board races.

Several laws passed during the session related to controversial social issues. Act 317 requires each multiple occupancy restroom or changing area to be designated as meant for the use by the male or female sex. School districts may provide a reasonable accommodation such as a single-occupancy restroom. On overnight trips, students must share sleeping quarters with a member of the same sex or be provided singleoccupancy sleeping quarters. Family members of different sexes can sleep in the same room. A superintendent, principal or teacher who violates the law faces referral to the Professional Licensure Standards Board and a minimum fine of $1,000, plus possible additional sanctions. A parent could have a cause of action against the district if permission to violate the law is granted by the superintendent or principal.

Three other social issue bills attracted a lot of attention. Act 372 created specific requirements in a district’s policy governing challenges to school and public library materials, including making the school’s review committee meeting for challenges open to the public. Act

542 states that school employees shall not address a student with a pronoun or title that is inconsistent with their biological sex, or by a name other the one listed on their birth certificate or a derivative, without the written permission of their parent or guardian. Act 411 requires the state treasurer to divest the state of all investments in financial services providers who discriminate against energy companies or firearms entities or who make investment decisions based on environmental, social justice, or other governance-related factors. The law applies to the state’s retirement systems, including the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System. Lawmakers amended the bill when they learned ATRS could lose $7 million so that if an early divestment would affect the state negatively, then the investment would be exempt from disclosure.

Lawmakers have the prerogative of referring up to three proposed constitutional amendments to the ballot each legislative session. This session, they referred only one, and it affects public education. The proposed amendment would allow Arkansas Scholarship Lottery proceeds to be used for scholarships and grants to public or private vocational-technical institutions or public or private technical institutes.

Other education bills passed

Among the other laws passed were the following:

• Act 633 requires the State Board of Education to adopt exit criteria for districts under state control within two years following state takeover. Once the exit criteria are met, the district must return to local control. If the exit criteria are not met within five years of the takeover, the State Board must either return the district to local control, annex, consolidate or reconstitute.

• Act 461 repeals the mandatory consolidation requirement for districts that fall below 350 students.

• Act 543 prohibits districts with enrollments below 350 from being administratively consolidated if classified as in need of Level 5 - Intensive Support and if an enrolled student would have to ride a bus more than 40 miles to attend. Instead, the state would take over the district.

• Act 26 requires that the first day of public school be on or after the Monday of the week in which Aug. 19 falls, and not earlier than Aug. 14 nor later than Aug. 26.

• Act 347 requires the State Board of Education to use the same criteria for granting public school waivers that it also uses when granting charter school waivers.

• Act 428 designates the last full week of January as Holocaust Education Week.

• Act 802 requires school boards of directors to appoint board members to the state’s educational service coopContinued on next page

Legislative session

eratives. Board members can be the superintendent, a school staff member, a school board member or a community member.

• Act 189 allows a student who physically moves from one district to another to continue to be enrolled in their first district through graduation.

• Act 621 provides an excused absence for a student to observe a parent voting, with a limit of one absence per election.

• Act 635 amends the law so that instead of school districts being required to employ at least one computer science teacher at each high school, they are merely allowed to do it.

• Act 630 allows a home-schooled student to participate in an extracurricular activity at a non-resident district without the permission of the resident district’s superintendent if the activity is not offered at the resident district.

• Act 654 amends the computer science graduation requirement to allow computer science-related courses to count toward graduation.

• Act 242 allows DESE to substitute comparable career and technical education coursework for core academic courses required for graduation.

• Act 243 allows DESE to create an elementary school agriculture education pilot program.

• Act 776 prohibits school districts from using payroll deductions for employee member dues for labor or professional associations including the Arkansas Education Association, the Arkansas State Teachers Association, and the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators. Districts can still pay the dues but not through payroll deduction.

• Act 788 prohibits a student from being disciplined or having their grade affected for expressing a religious belief to the extent relevant to the school assignment, or expressing a religious viewpoint at a forum open to student expression.