The School Choice Revolution: Arkansas, Texas See Massive Steps Forward in Providing Education Freedom to Families – ‘We Are Not Messing Around’

On Thursday, the state of Arkansas celebrates as the Arkansas Senate, with the support of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR), passed the Arkansas LEARNS Act with a vote of 25-7-1, with 2 non-votes.

The bill will bring school choice to the state and it represents one of the most sweeping education reforms in the country.

The bill will empower parents by creating a three-year, phased-in approach to funding students rather than systems by allowing families to choose where their child goes to school via education savings accounts. The bill plans to have the program completely rolled out by the 2025-2026 school year.

In addition to creating comprehensive school choice, the legislation raises teachers’ base salaries from $36,000 a year to $50,000 a year leading to all Arkansas teachers receiving a raise in their salaries. In addition, the bill provides 12 weeks of paid maternity leave, rewards teachers with $10,000 bonuses, and expands school safety initiatives.

“Arkansas is one step closer to unleashing the most bold, comprehensive, conservative education reform package in the nation with the Arkansas Senate’s passage of my signature Arkansas LEARNS bill today,” Sanders told Fox News in a statement. “It will empower parents to choose the best school for their kid, improve childhood literacy, increase teacher pay to one of the highest in the nation, and prepare kids to graduate into high-paying jobs with the skills and training they need to be successful,” 

Only 35% of Arkansas third graders can read at grade level. By that point if you can’t read, you can’t learn.

That is unacceptable.

Instead of pushing kids through a broken system, it’s time to pass the most bold education plan in America and put EVERY kid on a path to success. pic.twitter.com/sQDffHSDiH

— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) February 21, 2023

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“We are not messing around in Arkansas,” Sanders wrote in response to the Senate passing the LEARNS Act. “Every kid will have access to a quality education whether the left likes it or not.”

We are not messing around in Arkansas. Every kid will have access to a quality education whether the left likes it or not. pic.twitter.com/RvI1SZmNun

— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) February 24, 2023

A similar effort is taking root just next door in Texas where school choice has been made a priority by Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX). 

“We can fully fund public schools while also giving parents a choice about which school is right for their child,” Abbott said last year, per the Texas Tribune. “Empowering parents means giving them the choice to send their children to any public school, charter school or private school with state funding following the student.”

“A universal school choice revolution has ignited,” wrote Corey DeAngelis, who has been instrumental in pushing school choice both in Arkansas and Texas. “This session, Texas will finally empower all parents with education freedom.”

a universal school choice revolution has ignited.

this session, Texas will finally empower all parents with education freedom. pic.twitter.com/nxudk8OpNq

— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) February 24, 2023

With school choice gaining more popularity in Republican-led states, parents will now have the freedom to choose where they send their kids to school allowing for better educational outcomes and more equal opportunities for children irrespective of their socioeconomic status.

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