By ANTOINETTE GRAJEDA, HUNTER FIELD | Arkansas Advocate

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday unveiled some details of her long-awaited education overhaul plan, which includes raising the minimum teacher salary to $50,000 and rolling out a new school voucher program that will eventually be available to all Arkansans. 

During a press conference inside the Capitol, Sanders said providing every child with access to a quality education is the “civil rights issue of our day.”

“The longer we wait to reform our failing schools, the more future generations we’re condemning to a lifetime of poverty,” she said. “I promised to be the education governor and I’m proud to deliver on that promise only a month into my term.”

Key points of Sanders’ education plan

• $50,000 minimum teacher salary
• Creation of a voucher program that would provide families state funds for private-school tuition or other allowable education expenses.
• Student loan forgiveness for new teachers in high-need areas
• Up to $10,000 in merit pay
• Streamline early childhood education programs
• Deploy 120 reading coaches to school most in need
• $500 tutoring grants for K-3 students not meeting literacy benchmarks
• Dual diploma program in all high schools
• Repeal the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act

In addition to raising the minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000, Sanders’ plan includes up to $10,000 in bonuses and complete student loan forgiveness for new teachers willing to teach in high-need areas.

The new Education Freedom Account will provide state funding for parents to enroll their children in public, private, parochial schools or homeschool, Sanders said. The program will be rolled out to “at-risk” families first and be available to all families within three years.

The new Republican governor also said the legislation would include limits on race and sexual education, saying Arkansas won’t teach kids “what to think, but how to think.”

Sanders promised to streamline early childhood education programs and funding, deploy 120 “highly trained” reading coaches to schools that need it most and provide $500 tutoring grants to K-3 students not meeting benchmarks.

To address workforce readiness, a dual diploma program will be launched in all high schools. The Career Ready Diploma will “provide high school students with the opportunity to choose a pathway that best fits their needs after graduation,” Sanders said. 

Sanders shared these details at a press conference and subsequent news release, but legislation has not yet been filed. House Education Committee Chairman Rep. Brian Evans (R-Cabot) said he expects the bill to be roughly 125 pages, and it could be filed by the middle of next week. 

Evans, who has been involved in the drafting of the legislation, acknowledged that there are still some in the GOP on the fence. 

“I think there are some Republican members on both ends of the General Assembly that think about their communities back home. What are the cornerstones of those communities? In many instances, it’s the public school system,” Evans said.

“I think they’ll get over the line, but right now they’re just a little bit hesitant until they see the exact particulars of the bill just to make sure that the benefit and the gain is going to outweigh any potential risks to their communities.”

House Minority Leader Rep. Tippi McCullough (D-Little Rock) said she has not yet seen a draft of the legislation, but said Democrats are opposed to an “omnibus” bill. She also questioned the constitutionality of addressing so many issues in one bill.

“Even if there are some things that we would like to support, or could support, [we] just can’t do it because the voucher part of it’s going to be a systematic dismantling of the public school system in Arkansas,” she said.

McCullough filed a bill two weeks ago, to raise the state’s minimum teacher salary to $50,000. House Bill 1268 has not been placed on the House Education Committee’s agenda.

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Greg Leding (D-Fayetteville) also filed legislation to increase classified employees’ salary from $11 an hour to $15 an hour. 

Senate Bill 149 was on the agenda for Wednesday’s Senate Education Committee meeting, but committee chair Sen. Jane English (R-North Little Rock) announced during Tuesday’s Senate meeting that the committee meeting was cancelled.

McCullough said Democrats still plan to run their bills.

Language for Sanders’ wide-ranging education package has been sent to the Bureau of Legislative Research, which will draft the legislation, Sanders said. The plan is expected to cost $300 million the first year, with $150 million in new spending, she said. 

Teacher pay

Arkansas had the fourth lowest starting pay for teachers in the country during the 2020-21 school year, the most readily available statistics, according to the National Education Association. Montana had the lowest salary at $32,495 while New Jersey had the highest at $54,053.

Sanders’ proposed minimum salary would rank Arkansas in the top five highest-paying states, according to NEA data. 

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