EXCLUSIVE — Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) touted her newly introduced education reform bill, which includes a universal school choice program, as a potential model for other states interested in taking a holistic approach to education.
In an exclusive interview with the Washington Examiner days after her signature Arkansas LEARNS bill was introduced in the legislature, Sanders said her legislation, which would enact universal school choice, raise teacher pay, and expand literacy programs, “can be a blueprint for states across the country to look to on how we can improve education.”
BIDEN TWEET ON EDUCATION ACCESS MOCKED AS ‘ACCIDENTAL ENDORSEMENT’ OF SCHOOL CHOICE
“We have been working with parents, teachers, school board members, superintendents, and you know, other stakeholders around Arkansas and getting their feedback and priorities and areas they think that we can lean into to improve education,” Sanders told the Washington Examiner. “And over the course of that time, and working with our partners in the legislature over the last couple months, crafted what we think is the most comprehensive and conservative education reform package in the country.”
The bill is the most significant legislative initiative Sanders has pushed since taking office last month. The most high-profile provisions of the legislation are a universal school choice program that would be phased in over three years and a teacher pay increase that would see the minimum pay for public school teachers raised to $50,000 and all teachers receiving at least a $2,000 raise.
“We’re really focusing on doing a better job of recruiting and retaining the best teachers that we can,” Sanders said. “We’ve also added some other incentives to place priority on teachers who are willing to go into some of the higher demand sectors and teaching and certainly some of the areas of our state where we have the highest date.”
Sanders said the goal of the school choice program, implemented through education savings accounts that can be used for private school tuition and other education expenses, is to “put the power into the hands of parents to make sure that our students are getting the best education possible.”
“We feel really good about things and just continuing to keep our foot on the gas and make sure that the information that’s being spread about bill that’s not accurate is getting address and … I look forward to seeing this get signed into law,” she said. “I think it can be a blueprint for states across the country to look to on how we can improve education.”
The legislation has garnered opposition from teachers unions, including the Arkansas Education Association, which said the governor was pushing an “unpopular and destructive voucher scheme” in exchange for raising teacher pay.
“Vouchers take scarce funding away from public schools and give it to private schools that are unaccountable to the public,” Arkansas Education Association President Carol Fleming said earlier this month. “Arkansas needs to focus on investing in our public schools — where 90 percent of our children go — instead of diverting money from them to give to the 10 percent who attend private schools. By taking funding away for public schools, vouchers will harm rural communities, where public schools are popular and remain the only option for most students.”
But Arkansas’s new governor said such criticisms are unfounded and that the legislation is actually primarily geared toward supporting public schools.
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
“I think anybody that argues that this legislation isn’t supportive of public schools clearly hasn’t read it,” Sanders said. “We are leaning heavily into our public school system. We know that the majority of students are going to be in public schools in Arkansas, and we just want those to be high performing public schools.”
Sanders said the state of education in Arkansas required a “very bold” response.
“We are tired of seeing our students perform at the bottom,” the governor said. “I don’t like that our reading scores, our math scores, are always at the bottom, and I feel like it’s incredibly important for us to take a comprehensive look at education … if we just tinker in one area. I think we’re going to be right back here a year from now, and our students won’t have improved. So looking at how we take an across-the-board approach, and a very bold and innovative reform, is really important to seeing all of our students do well and all of our students benefit, which is why this legislation doesn’t just deal in one area but covers a lot of ground, and I think will be a huge difference maker for our state.”
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The proposed legislation has earned praise from school choice advocates, including American Federation for Children senior fellow Corey DeAngelis, who called Sanders “an unapologetic education freedom fighter.”
“The proposal by Gov. Sanders will unlock education freedom for all Arkansas parents, allowing every single family to take their children’s education dollars to the education providers of their choosing,” DeAngelis told the Washington Examiner. “Every governor should follow the lead of Sarah Huckabee Sanders and empower families with educational opportunities.”
