Signer beware

Anti-LEARNS measure takes rights

On its third try, a coalition of groups, largely only familiar within their respective bubbles, has had its title approved and is now seeking petition signatures to place its initiated constitutional amendment on the Arkansas ballot in November.

Signer beware.

Their Orwellian-titled “Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment of 2024” actually takes away Arkansans’ rights, many of which have been afforded with the historic enactment of Arkansas LEARNS last year.

Conspicuously buried in the list of sponsoring groups is an organization which should send chills down the spines of Arkansans who value parental control and student-focused education — the Arkansas Education Association (AEA), more commonly known as the teachers’ union.

The AEA is an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA), so when a public school district teacher or staff member joins their local union (e.g., Little Rock Education Association), he/ she also joins and sends a vast majority of his/her annual dues to the AEA in Little Rock and NEA in Washington.

The AEA/NEA are the same unions which advocated for closing schools during covid and keeping them closed long after the immediate threat and uncertainty had passed, resulting in historic learning loss and a physical and mental health crisis among our children.

According to OpenSecrets.org, the NEA’s political contributions have overwhelmingly supported one party over the past 34 years. Here are the percentages for the past nine:

2024: 98.73% Democrats; 1.27% Republicans

2022: 99.22% Democrats; 0.78% Republicans

2020: 95.58% Democrats; 4.42% Republicans

2018: 93.26% Democrats; 6.74% Republicans

2016: 87.11% Democrats; 12.89% Republicans

Clearly, the highly partisan AEA/ NEA does not reflect Arkansas, her people, nor our values. And yet, the AEA/NEA now wants you to sign their petition to force government central control and sameness on Arkansas education. Through government regulation, their ballot initiative removes the rights of Arkansans to choose the education that best fits their students’ needs, reserving that privilege for only those of means.

Ultimate accountability in education resides with the chooser, those parents/guardians who decide which school — resident district, nonresident district, open-enrollment public charter, private/independent, home school, or a combination thereof — best suits the needs of their children. When government imposes sameness as a qualification to be chosen, there is no choice at all.

The proposed constitutional amendment would also mandate (1) universal access to government pre-K for all children ages 3 to kindergarten, (2) universal access to government after-school/summer programs, (3) unspecified government “assistance” to all students within 200% of the federal poverty level ($62,400 for a family of four); and (4) a 120-word state government definition of “adequate education,” all required to be implemented and funded by the Legislature, with no consideration of the cost to Arkansas taxpayers.

The AEA/NEA and its allies’ anti-LEARNS fervor mainly opposes Arkansans receiving scholarships (via Arkansas LEARNS’ Education Freedom Accounts) to choose private providers of education. They seem not to care that many school districts across Arkansas currently contract with private schools/vendors for special needs and other students. Their amendment would end that unless those private providers submitted to the same government regulations as the very schools which could not meet the students’ special needs in the first place.

While the unions want to impose uniform government regulation on all providers, they ignore the fact that all Arkansas students receiving state support will be subject to the same test. Why is that important? Then, Arkansas parents will know how all providers — districts, charters, private/independents, home school vendors — are performing with their children. That empowers choice instead of limiting it.

It’s ironic that the AEA/NEA has never had an issue with state-funded Arkansas Academic Challenge scholarships (aka lottery scholarships) going to private colleges/universities. We can only surmise they believe true choice should only be available for those, like them, choosing higher education.

Those of means have always had and will always have true choice. It’s only when the poor and middle class also started having education options that the “more money, more time,” central control, government-school monopoly led by the teachers’ union lost its collective mind.

Just a year after the historic passage of Arkansas LEARNS, Arkansas is finally the among the nation’s leaders when it comes to prioritizing the best interests of students over the self-interests of adults. We must not allow disgruntled employees and their allies to mislead and derail We the People’s focus on science of reading literacy, parental choice empowerment, education provider accountability, career readiness, and universal access to online networking.

So, when asked to sign the AEA/ NEA’s petition to get this rights-limiting issue on the ballot, beware of the teachers unions’ Trojan horse. Say “No thank you” to removing parental rights and imposing government central control on Arkansas students and families.

Gary Newton is the CEO of Arkansas Learns (unassociated with the LEARNS Act), the voice of consumers for student-focus, transparency, accountability, rewards, and choice in education. For more information, visit