Arkansas attorney general asks state Supreme Court to reverse ruling blocking LEARNS Act temporarily

Attorney General Tim Griffin, left, addresses members of the media during a press conference at the Arkansas state Capitol alongside Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 announcing plans to sue Facebook and Tiktok's parent companies Meta and Bytedance respectively. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Colin Murphey)
Attorney General Tim Griffin, left, addresses members of the media during a press conference at the Arkansas state Capitol alongside Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 announcing plans to sue Facebook and Tiktok's parent companies Meta and Bytedance respectively. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Colin Murphey)

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin filed an emergency motion Tuesday asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to reverse a lower court ruling that temporary blocked the LEARNS Act from taking effect.

Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Herbert Wright issued a temporary restraining order Friday preventing Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ signature education overhaul from taking effect. The order blocks the law from taking effect until a June 20 hearing.

“On Friday, a single trial judge in Little Rock temporarily blocked the LEARNS Act and put the entire state’s public education system in limbo,” Griffin said in a statement Tuesday. “That order has real-world consequences: It cancels maternity leave for mothers who are teachers, puts teacher raises in jeopardy, and halts new school safety programs and efforts to combat human trafficking and abuse. I’ve asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to immediately block that order, end the chaos and let schools get back to educating our kids.”

Wright’s order comes after five Arkansans filed suit against the state Department of Education, Education Secretary Jacob Oliva and members of the state Board of Education for using the LEARNS Act to authorize the takeover of the Marvell-Elaine School District by a charter school non-profit.

The lawsuit argues legislators erred when approving the LEARNS Act’s emergency clause, a parliamentary procedure that allows laws to take effect immediately.

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