Sanders’ school bill will speed up slow session
It has been a slow start to the three-week-old legislative session at the Arkansas State Capitol, but things will speed up – maybe next week.
Legislators soon will start considering the big issues that everyone expected to frame the session – the biggest one being Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ highly anticipated education reform bill.
Sanders has made it clear schools will be her signature issue during her first legislative session. She plans to go big with a single bill that will combine all of her priorities in one piece of legislation.
Rep. Brian Evans, R-cabot, chair of the House Education Committee, said via text Wednesday that the governor’s office and legislators were close to having a draft ready. We might see the bill by the end of the coming week.
That bill – which will be really, really long – will have some kind of parental choice mechanism where state funds will help parents send their children to public school alternatives like private schools. Sanders has made it clear this is a high priority for her; this past week, she appeared at a rally sponsored by the group National School Choice Week.
The bill will run into legislative opposition not just from Democrats, who make up less than one-fifth of the Legislature, but also from some Republican legislators, as well as local school superintendents and others who fear an erosion in funding and support for public schools.
On Tuesday, Rep. Jim Wooten, R-beebe, filed two bills echoing arguments made by public school advocates – namely, that private schools aren’t held accountable and don’t have to do some of the hard, expensive things done by public schools, which have to serve everyone.
One of his bills would require private schools to administer an annual statewide assessment, as public schools do. It also would require private schools to admit all students who apply and who plan to use state funds for their education.
The other bill would require private schools accepting state funds to provide transportation to students who live within 35 miles of the school. Running buses is expensive, which is one reason why private schools don’t do it.
How far will those bills advance? Probably not far, but they do demonstrate the points that opponents of Sanders’ bill will make.
Sanders also plans to seek major teacher pay increases, and she will push for increased access to pre-kindergarten classes. Having everything in one bill will force legislators to make a difficult choice if they strongly support one part, like teacher pay raises, but oppose another part, like using state money for private schools.
Sanders may have to scale back her initial plans in order to get the support she needs, but something will pass. It is unthinkable that a new governor elected with 63% of the vote will fail to deliver on her signature issue during her first legislative session.
Two other issues will dominate the session. One is a major criminal justice reform bill that will construct prison beds – at least a thousand and maybe thousands – while requiring violent offenders to serve more of their sentences. It also will include other elements like a workforce development piece to help released convicts better integrate into society.
I cannot imagine this bill failing; the only debate will be about the details. Arkansas will build more prison space, and it’s going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The prisons are full and spilling out into county jails, which also are full. There are legitimate arguments to be made about the best ways to deal with crime long-term, but we’re in a crisis situation now, so this is going to happen.
The other big issue this session will be income tax cuts, which will come later. Sanders has said she wants to phase out the income tax over time. Legislators will need to see the fiscal impact of all this new spending for teacher salaries and prisons so they can gauge how much taxes to cut this session.
Legislative sessions typically last about three months, and then it’s time for everyone to go home. This one has been slow to get out of first gear, but the big stuff is coming. Stay tuned.
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