FORT SMITH -- Legislators for the River Valley met with the public at the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce on Friday afternoon to discuss their thoughts on Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' education bill that was approved by the Senate this week.
Senate Bill 294, also known as the LEARNS Act, would amend various provisions of Arkansas law related to early childhood through grade 12 education in the state. Some highlights include increasing the minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000, which would move Arkansas from 48th to fifth in the nation; implementing a bonus program providing up to $10,000 for teachers achieving the best results; and creating "Education Freedom Accounts" to provide families a state fund for private school tuition or other allowable expenses.
Zachary Gramlich, the newly elected representative for House District 50, a district that includes the southern portion of Fort Smith, as well as a teacher at Darby Middle School, said he thinks Arkansas LEARNS is the biggest proposed change to Arkansas education in a while.
Gramlich said the new starting teacher pay would move Arkansas to first in the nation when considering the state's cost of living. He said the freedom accounts will be the largest expansion for private schools and home schooling ever.
"As far as the funding for it, private school parents and home school parents will get 90% of whatever the foundation funding is, roughly a little over $7,000," he said. "That money never actually goes into the pocket of the parents or the pocket of the student, it just follows the student. So if I choose to send my student to a prep school, that money will go to pay for tuition fees, uniforms, a number of other things that are outlined in the bill. Some of the same things for home school."
Gramlich said he feels positive about the bill but still has some questions, including how funding will work and how his pay will be affected.
State Rep. Cindy Crawford, a Republican representing District 51, which includes portions of Sebastian County, addressed public concerns the education bill will cost taxpayers too much by saying it uses a mixture of existing state money and federal grants. She said Arkansas is still on track to enact another tax cut.
The bill also recognizes the need for trade education instead of college preparation for some students, Crawford said.
"I think we can all agree that it's time for education to change," she said. "I think this is a good start to get education in Arkansas to go to the top, because we've been on the bottom for so long."
District 27 state Sen. Justin Boyd, whose district includes most of Fort Smith, said some other public questions about the bill will have to be determined on a district basis.
Dalton Person, a Fort Smith School Board member, asked why the bill has moved this quickly.
"I can't recall this big, this revolutionary of a bill to go from being filed at 4:55 p.m. on a Monday to being voted out of the Senate three days later," he said. "Why do you think it's moving this fast with all of these questions being referenced as to be determined?"
"This is not a new idea," Boyd said. "We've been hearing about this since September or October. There's been lots of discussions. We've had meetings, we've had opportunities to have input throughout the process. So yes, there was only a bill then, but it's not like people weren't expecting it, people didn't have the points of what was going to be in there."