Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

The Arkansas Public School Choice Act of 1989 declares that

"parents will become more informed about and involved in the public educational system if...provided greater freedom to determine the most effective school.... There is no right school for every student, and permitting students to choose from among different schools with differing assets will increase the likelihood that some marginal students will stay in school and that other, more motivated students will find their full academic potential.... [G]iving more options to parents and students with respect to where they attend public school will increase the responsiveness and effectiveness of the state's schools...."[1]

The law enables students to apply for transfer to a school in another district as long as the transfer does not affect desegregation efforts. Students who have been denied a transfer may receive a hearing before the Arkansas State Board of Education. Students may also transfer to other schools within their district. Parents are responsible for transportation unless the district opts to provide it.[2]

In 1995, then-Governor Jim Guy Tucker, a Democrat, signed Act 1126, which allowed any local school to become a charter school, but with several stipulations: The charter could not remove existing collective bargaining requirements; it had to be approved by the local board of education; at least two-thirds of the school's employees and two-thirds of the students' parents had to support the transition to a charter school; and the school had to accept the state board's regulations. These strict requirements discouraged teachers and parents at public schools from seeking charters.[3]

The Charter Schools Act of 1999 (Senate Bill 562), signed by Governor Tucker's successor, Mike Huckabee, a Republican, reduced the burden on charters. The law allows any university, private non-sectarian institution, or government entity to apply to open one of 12 open-enrollment charter schools. Only three charter schools may open in any congressional district. In addition, an unlimited number of existing public schools can convert to charter schools.[4] Two years later, Governor Huckabee signed into law Act 1311, which amended the charter school law's process of public school conversion.[5]

In 1998, the state became a Children's Scholarship Fund (CSF) partner, and CEO of Central Arkansas, the state's existing private scholarship program, became CSF-Arkansas. The CSF, a $100 million foundation, has matched funds raised by Arkansans to underwrite private scholarships that enable low-income children in elementary school (K-8) to attend a school of choice.[6]

One tax credit bill, House Bill 2159, and one voucher bill, H.B. 2275, were introduced in 1999. H.B. 2159 would have created tax credits for tuition and other educational expenses, and H.B. 2275 would have created "child-centered scholarships" for private school tuition. Both bills died in committee. In 2001, H.B.1071, which would have offered tuition assistance ("learning endowments") for children in low-performing school districts, and S.B. 901, which would have provided a $100 ($500 for joint filers) income tax credit for contributions to nonprofit scholarship providers, were also introduced. Both of these bills also died in committee.[7]

In July 2002, when the U.S. Department of Education announced the number of failing schools throughout the nation, only two states--Arkansas and Wyoming--had no schools among the 8,652 that were so designated.[8] In August 2002, the Arkansas Department of Education identified nearly 200 schools as "needing improvement"; several months later, the department revised its count to 25 schools in 14 districts.[9]

In January 2003, State Representative Jeremy Hutchinson (R-Little Rock) introduced H.B. 1031, under which disabled students could have received vouchers to help them attend a private or public school of choice. The bill died in the Arkansas House of Representatives on April 17, 2003.[10](45)

In 2003, the Arkansas Department of Education, through a federal Voluntary Public School Choice grant opened the Arkansas Virtual School as a pilot program. Open to a small number of students, the program uses K12, Inc. as a curriculum and management provider.[11]

On October 13, 2003, the Arkansas State Board of Education approved a charter for the Arkansas Virtual Academy, a school similar to the Arkansas Virtual School.[12] In early 2004, however, the Arkansas legislature voted to deny funding for the new charter school.[13]

In late 2003, State Representative Johnny Key (R-Baxter) introduced H.B. 1059 to improve the state's weak charter school law. Under the bill, district approval would not be required to open a charter school. Additionally, the bill would have lengthened the term of the charter from three to five years and increased the number of open enrollment charter to 24 and six per district. Although read and amended, the bill did not make it out of committee before adjournment.[14]

In January 2004, the governor signed into law S.B. 42 to ensure that charter schools receive funding comparable to other public schools.[15]

In March 2005, state Senator Steve Bryles (D-Blytheville) introduced S.B. 1130, which would do away with the three charter schools per district cap and raise the cap on the number of open-enrollment charters in the state to 24.[16] The bill would give charters that enroll student bodies with standardized test scores lower than those of their district special preference in the state board approval process. Also, the bill would allow charters to be approved for contracts up to five years. The bill was signed by the governor and became Act 2005 on April 12, 2005.[17]