SHS education bill still elusive as #arleg week six looms
We’re heading into the sixth week of the legislative session, and we still haven’t seen a bill to enact Sanders’ bold, conservative education reform. It’s been a long and winding road from the first time we heard it was coming.
Education reform was perhaps Sarah’s most touted promise from the campaign trail (besides protecting Arkansas from its nonexistent radical left agenda). As early as the GOP State Convention in July 2022 she spoke publicly about her intention to prioritize education: “I want to make a full education reform package, and I will be happy to talk about all of the specifics of that over the coming months.”
Months came and went as Sarah dodged questions about specifics, and dodged the press altogether. Instead of getting the education package solidified and announced, she made trips to appear in other states for speaking engagements and appearances.
It wasn’t until October that Sarah announced her plan for education, which turned out to be an acronym (“LEARNS”) and little else. It did come with a 30-second video that included an opening line that we’ve all come to know well: “educate, not indoctrinate.” Still yet, the announcement left much to be desired for the teachers, students, and parents who would be affected by bold reform to come.
On January 10 and 11, 2023, promptly after being sworn into office, Sanders signed two education-related executive orders. The first was more of the same purely political rhetoric, prohibiting indoctrination and CRT in schools. The second order had its own press conference and expanded slightly on the LEARNS acronym. It was at this time that Sanders announced her intention for education reform to come in one big piece of legislation, the bill we are all still waiting on.
Last Tuesday’s State of the Union response was the politically expedient national platform Sarah chose to announce, yet again, that bold reform is coming. The following day, instead of releasing legislation, she held a press conference and put up a poster. (No, really.) To her credit, we got a few details, like increasing teacher pay and holding back third graders who aren’t reading up to grade level. Later that week, a document that was apparently sent to superintendents in the state showed more details, none of which have been confirmed.
Again, there is still no bill, and until there’s a bill, who knows what change will come?
The sentiments of many are summed up in a quote from a PBS interview by Democratic Representative Denise Garner: “Right now all we have is a poster, and some conservative rhetoric, and just some leaked talking points.”
