As the second year of the Arkansas LEARNS voucher program kicks off, opponents and supporters have the same sentiment: It will be more of the same.
“I think it’s just going to be a continuing expansion of subsidies going to urban families that were likely going to be going to private schools anyway,” Bill Kopsky , Arkansas Public Policy Panel director, said. “I think a lot of the families that end up taking advantage of those don’t find the quality they were looking for.”
Laurie Lee, a lobbyist and chairman of the board for The Reform Alliance, a school choice advocacy group, said she’s confident the second year of LEARNS vouchers will be just as successful as the first.
“I see all Arkansas students thriving. Those that aren’t successful in traditional public schools or public charter schools will be able to find a new route,” Lee said. “And those that are in our traditional public schools and public charter schools are now able to be the focus of their teachers. Parents know their children best and putting the decision in their hands is what is going to bring our state to the top of education in the nation.”
The renewal window for the 2024-25 school year for existing voucher students opened on March 4 and new students can begin applying on April 1.The vouchers can be used for educational expenses such as private-school tuition, uniforms and educational material and supplies.
Parents can go to the Department of Education website for more information and to register.
The LEARNS Act, the 145-page education overhaul pushed by Gov. Sarah Sanders and signed into law last March, made sweeping changes to the state’s education landscape. It created the voucher program, raised the minimum teacher salary to $50,000, eliminated teacher protections from dismissal and required high school students to complete 75 hours of community service before they graduate.
A message left for Sanders asking how she feels the first year of the voucher program fared was not returned.
The average tuition cost among schools accepting state vouchers was $7,600 as of August 2023, according to analysis by the Arkansas Advocate.
In year one, those eligible included students enrolled at F-rated schools; who are enrolled in kindergarten; who were or are in a foster care program; who have a disability; or who have an active-duty military parent.
That eligibility now expands in the second year to also include those enrolled in a D-rated school; who have a parent who is a military veteran; or who are children of first-responders.
The second year is also when homeschools and microschools (a small group of homeschool students learning together) can now get approved to accept vouchers. The state currently works with 98 approved private schools, according to Kimberly Mundell , spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Education. .
Once fully implemented in year three, all students from kindergarten through high school — regardless of income level or other factors — will be eligible to apply, including those already enrolled in private schools.
In the first year 6,055 students were approved for vouchers, but only 5,407 of them ended up accepting the voucher money. Among the voucher students, about 4,000 were from at-risk categories such as those with learning disabilities, attending F-rated schools, homeless or in foster care. About 1,400 were first-time kindergartners or children of active-duty military parents.
The cost for year one of the vouchers was projected to be around $46.7 million with the second year expected to cost about $97.5 million. There is no estimate for year three when the voucher program opens up to all public school students.
“The real test in Arkansas is going to be in year three and beyond when we think it will explode the state budget,” Kopsky said. “I think they created this soft ramp-in for the first couple of years so people wouldn’t freak out about the price tag until the program was really cemented in.”
Arizona’s voucher program was first enacted in 2011 with limited access. By 2022, it became the first state in the nation to have a universal voucher program, allowing $7,000 per child to cover private school tuition and other educational expenses. By the beginning of 2024, enrollment surpassed 70,000, according to an article by neaToday magazine.
Arizona has since seen its fair share of controversy, with some saying the voucher system is bankrupting the state and lacks accountability. A recent audit found that voucher recipients have used funds for questionable expenses like home gyms, televisions and kayak lessons.
Kopsky is a leader of the group For AR Kids that is collecting signatures to place the Educational Rights Amendment of 2024 on the ballot. The measure would require private schools accepting public funding in the form of vouchers to meet the same academic standards as public schools.
“The program has proven not to be effective in state after state after state. So we’re really following a broken model,” Kopsky said. “The way the voucher system works is it really picks winners and losers of who has access to high-quality education when what we should be doing is investing to make sure every child in the state has access to a high quality education.”
“I’d like to say it’s been my experience those who oppose these programs are politically biased (usually teacher unions or supporters of the teachers union), families that can already afford options for their children and don’t want ‘those kids’ going to school with their children and people who don’t know the actual facts of the programs and how they affect students, teachers, family and business,” Lee said.
No unused voucher money will roll over from the first year. But starting in year two, any money left over in a voucher account can be rolled over to the next. The rollover can continue year after year until it reaches a yet-to-be-defined cap.
The registration window is a little later in opening than the department had hoped, Darrell Smith , assistant commissioner of the Department of Education’s Office of School Choice and Parent Empowerment, said.
The bidding process for the new vendor to process the school vouchers – a contract held by ClassWallet in the first year – took some extra work and time, pushing back the start date for new vouchers, Smith said.
A selection of the third-party vendor still has not been made. The original bidding process was scrapped and a second one commenced. The vendor is expected to be chosen sometime in May.
In the meantime, ClassWallet will continue to administer the program, Mundell said.
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