ACCESS rollout similar to LEARNS

By STEVE BRAWNER

It would be inaccurate to call the Arkansas ACCESS Act “LEARNS 2,” but there have been similarities in the rollouts. Both involve major changes to the state’s education system. Both are long. Both were introduced in the middle of the legislative session. And, within a few weeks, both will have the governor’s signature.

You probably know that the 145-page LEARNS Act was Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ education transformation bill in 2023. It raised minimum public school teacher salaries to $50,000 and created “education freedom accounts” that provided public school funds for families to choose other options. The bill had enough legislative support when Sanders introduced it to ensure its passage. Indeed, she signed it into law only two-and-a-half weeks after sponsors filed it on Feb. 20, 2023.

On Feb. 17, Sanders introduced the ACCESS Act, another big education reform bill. While LEARNS focused on K-12 education, ACCESS, otherwise known as Senate Bill 246, covers both K-12 and higher education. It stands for “acceleration, common sense, cost, eligibility, scholarships and standardization.” The sponsors of the 122-page bill are Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, and Rep. Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado.

Probably its most important provisions relate to the higher education funding formula. It would allow the Division of Higher Education to support noncredit programs. In other words, the state would provide additional funding to programs that lead to workforce-specific certificates, like welding and truck driving, that aren’t part of two-year and four-year degree tracks. 

Another change would incorporate a return-on-investment metric aligned with the state’s economic and workforce needs. The Division of Higher Education would work out the details, but the goal is to more cost-effectively create graduates ready to work.

The ACCESS Act also devotes more than five pages to a subsection titled “Rejecting Discrimination and Indoctrination in Postsecondary Education.” It would prohibit state university personnel from adversely or advantageously treating students differently based on their race, ethnicity, sex, color or national origin. Sanders has already signed into a law another bill banning affirmative action and preferential treatment programs at public entities. 

ACCESS also bans professors and others at state universities from compelling students to personally affirm or adopt certain beliefs. It specifies the belief that people should be treated differently because of their personal characteristics, and the belief that students are responsible for actions committed by others with the same characteristics they have. 

More generally, it says students could not be compelled to “adhere to a political, philosophical, religious, or other ideological viewpoint.” At the same time, higher education employees would  not be prohibited from discussing issues and ideas some might find “unwelcome, disagreeable, or offensive.”

An institution that treats students differently based on those above personal characteristics, or that is found guilty of indoctrinating students, would have to remedy the situation quickly. If it didn’t, it could lose state funding. To regain it, it would have to demonstrate compliance for at least one fiscal year after the fiscal year when it lost the funding.

With penalties that severe, higher education institutions would feel a lot of pressure to err on the safe side. 

ACCESS would make other changes to college culture. It would prohibit colleges from giving students excused absences for political activities. Students would be liable for damage they cause to campus property while engaging in a political activity. ACCESS also would make it easier for professors to lose their tenure. 

The bill has many other provisions in its 122 pages. It would fund concurrent credits for high school students using state foundation funding. The first-year award for the lottery-funded Academic Challenge Scholarship would increase from $1,000 to $2,000. It also would create a grading system for K-12 school districts in addition to the existing one for individual schools. 

One difference between LEARNS and ACCESS is that when Sanders introduced LEARNS, Republican legislators crowded behind her from the bottom to the top of the Capitol stairway. It had 80 sponsors when it was filed. In contrast, Dismang and Shepherd were the only legislators with her at the lectern when she introduced ACCESS.

That doesn’t mean it won’t have a lot of support. Sanders has said this bill is her top priority this session. LEARNS was inevitable, and it didn’t change much from its introduction until the Governor signed it. ACCESS also is inevitable, although it might change some along the way.

It could take more than two-and-a-half weeks to get done this time. Regardless, changes are coming to the state’s education system, again.

Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 17 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.