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Asked and Answered
Educational Adequacy - What is It?
Mike Mertens, AAEA Assistant Executive Director
Over the past several months, school administrators have been closely watching the proceedings of the Joint Education Committee as they have worked through the process of conducting the "Adequacy Study.” This review will lead to a final report and recommendations for school funding in the next biennium. The final Adequacy report and recommendations are due by November 1. So, what is Adequacy? Why is it so important? A typical question, especially at this time of the year and especially by those that may not be familiar with the history of the Lakeview lawsuit and past Adequacy studies. The Arkansas legislature is charged with studying the state's educational system to determine how it can offer an adequate education to all Arkansas public school students. The requirements of that study are specified in Act 57 of the Second Extraordinary Session of 2003, which requires the House and Senate Education Committees to study the system and report their findings and recommendations. The adequacy study is a key element in the continued constitutionality of the state's system of funding public education. The end result of this months-long process will be a list of recommendations that will be presented to the General Assembly prior to their convening in January 2023. A highly anticipated report that will provide the framework, and recommended funding, for numerous decisions made by school districts over the next two years on salaries, curriculum/instruction, and facilities. Here's the link to this and past years' Adequacy Reports.
