Back to school
I t’s hot enough to feel like midsummer, but signs of the changing seasons are all around: school buses on the road, two-a-days on the football field, moms dragging their kids through Walmart to pick out school supplies. In the Sanders house, our kids are starting seventh, fifth, and third grades. The swimsuits and camping supplies are safely stowed away and we’re shaking the dust off backpacks and sports gear.
It’s back-to-school season in Arkansas. Only this year, it’s going to look a lot different.
When I signed Arkansas LEARNS, I knew it was going to transform Arkansas schools. And we needed something transformational. Our school system languished at the bottom of national rankings for years, but I ran to change that.
Many of the law’s provisions went into effect almost immediately. We raised starting teacher salaries from $36,000 to $50,000, taking Arkansas from 48th in the nation to top five overnight. Every teacher got at least a $2,000 raise.
We hired more than 120 literacy coaches, whose work impacted 45,000 public school students last year. This year, more than 10,000 students will take advantage of Education Freedom Accounts, or EFAs, choosing the school that best fits their needs. Nearly 50 percent of those students have a disability.
As much as LEARNS has already accomplished, though, we’re still far from realizing its full impact. A recent groundbreaking at Easterseals Academy in Little Rock hammered that home.
Easterseals Academy serves around 80 K-12 students with disabilities, with another 200 on its waitlist. Education like this changes lives, but it’s expensive. Even with generous donor support, many families couldn’t afford to attend.
Arkansas LEARNS is changing that. Easterseals was one of the first schools to sign up for the EFA program, and many families eagerly joined the first wave of EFA applicants.
Now, more students than ever can attend. To help the school welcome all its new applicants, I directed Arkansas to provide more than $6.5 million for an expansion. Once finished, the Academy will be able to take every student off its waitlist.
Stories like this are happening all over Arkansas.
Arkansas LEARNS gave the Springdale School District funding for a high-impact tutoring program to help struggling first-grade readers. 100 percent of kids who took part in the program read better by the time it finished. The program has been so successful, Springdale plans to expand it to five new schools this fall.
One kindergarten teacher in Little Rock who was supported by a literacy coach last year now recommends it to every teacher in the state. As she says, “There is absolutely nothing more rewarding to me than the look on my little kindergarten friends’ faces when they realize they can decode or read a word.”
Soon, Arkansas high schoolers will complete 75 hours of community service before graduating high school. Education isn’t just about what you learn in the classroom; it’s also about preparing the next generation to be on a path to prosperity. This program facilitates a sense of public service and helps kids find opportunities in their own backyard.
This past summer, we distributed $10 million in merit-pay bonuses to 3,000 educators who went above and beyond last school year. These bonuses reward student growth, peer mentorship, and those working in a hard-to-staff subject area, so teachers are recognized for working where we need them most.
We launched our phone-free schools initiative, which about 75 percent of Arkansas districts have joined. Unrestricted smartphone use has been devastating for our kids’ mental health and learning. Under this program, Arkansas will fund pouches for students to store their smartphones safely during class time and provide support for telehealth mental health services.
We’re tackling childhood hunger. I signed Arkansas up for Summer EBT last year, providing low-income families with additional money for food during the summer months when kids are out of school. I also signed legislation making school breakfast and lunch free for students who had previously received reduced-price meals.
This school year marks the start of our Career-Ready Pathways program. All Arkansas high schools now offer students the opportunity to earn a certificate or license in at least one of 18 high-wage, highgrowth careers – things like welding, advanced manufacturing, and construction.
Other provisions of LEARNS are growing. We received more EFA applications than ever this school year. We’re giving out more high-impact tutoring grants and deploying more literacy coaches to public schools around the state. Teachers have up to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave and continue to earn some of the highest starting salaries in the nation.
As our kids get back to school this fall, many things will feel the same as they always have. The time-worn rhythm of Friday Night Lights, homecoming dances, and parentteacher conferences roll on. But underneath the surface, things are changing for the better.
Arkansas LEARNS was the biggest change to our school system in generations – and it’s just getting started.
Gov. Sarah Sanders
