Under the Biden regime, America’s education system is on the ropes.
Democrat policies are making it harder to trust that government schools are working in the best interests of children.
Now Democrats are furious after Sarah Huckabee Sanders made one move to rescue Arkansas schools from left-wing indoctrination.
Arkansas is determined “to lead in terms of education”
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is making good on her campaign promise to improve public education in her state.
The LEARNS Act was passed by the Arkansas House Education Committee in order to raise minimum teacher salaries across the state and expand a school voucher program.
Just before the bill’s passage, Arkansas state Rep. Keith Brooks delivered the closing speech celebrating the success of Republican efforts.
“We are launching the best and brightest and most aggressive investment in the history of the state of Arkansas, but it is not where we’re ending,” Brooks said, promising to put the states’ “students first and to look everyone in the eye and say Arkansas will continue to lead in terms of education.”
Though many on his side of the aisle cheered him on, there was dissent from Democrats.
Democrats claim the plan won’t provide “equitable education”
Democrat State Rep Denise Gardner condemned the passage of the LEARNS Act, saying that the state should be focusing on other educational initiatives.
“We need to be doing what works — early childhood education, universal pre-k, and after school, summer school,” he claimed.
Gardner went on to say that the voucher program would lead to inequity in the school system ultimately harming “students with disability” and other “underserved students.”
“We are Constitutionally bound to provide an adequate and equitable education to all Arkansas students,” the legislator added.
Another Democrat state legislator took issue with the bill’s provision to block teachers from instructing on racially driven topics.
“Just in terms of CRT… I don’t know if any of you know what CRT is or systemic racism, but I’m here to tell you that both do exist,” Arkansas state Rep. Vivian Flowers said.
She described CRT as an “academic theory,” and claimed that policies that aim to keep these theories away from elementary schools and in colleges where they belong “make you part of the problem.”
Dramatic salary increases for teachers are something to write home about
Republicans could see the flaws in the bill, but Rep. Brit McKenzie said it was “the best bill for our students.”
It will eventually impact all eligible students by the 2025-2026 school year, and will provide the funding for 90% of the current per-student funding.
It also sees nearly a 40% increase in the minimum teacher salary, with the state’s previous minimum of $36,000 increasing to $50,0000.
Additionally, every existing Arkansas teacher will also receive a $2,000 increase to their earnings in 2024.
McKenzie says the bill has “things that we can take back to teachers, we can take back to students, we can take back to our parents, [and] we can take back to our parents.”
She sees it as an all-around win for her colleagues in the Arkansas legislature.
It’s clear that Sarah Huckabee Sanders is ready to deliver on her campaign promises and improve Arkansas’ education system.
US Political Daily will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
