A bold step

Sanders delivers sweeping education plan

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders promised “bold” when it came to education. She didn’t disappoint.

She can afford to be bold. With more than 60% of voting Arkansans having elected her, and the Arkansas General Assembly overwhelmingly made up of members of her own party, it’s fairly doubtful her push for education reforms will meet with substantial resistance, or at least substantial enough. And maybe not even much analysis as it goes through the legislative process.

We hope we’re wrong on that latter estimation. Even lawmakers who are prone to agree with Sanders’ perspective on Arkansas’ approach to education ought to recognize her proposals for what they were promised to be: major changes. Putting such reforms into effect surely depends less on whether there’s an “R” by one’s name and more on an honest evaluation of their impacts. Surely.

So, to what we know from the general announcement Sanders made at the foot of a grand staircase inside the state Capitol. Many details are yet to come. Wednesday’s announcement did not include the proposed legislation, which will be a Washington, D.C., omnibus-style bill that attempts sweeping changes without requiring a bunch of separate votes.

Wednesday’s event was, rather, more of a well-staged rally of the troops around the governor’s cause. But the governor is putting more meat on the bones. • Teacher raises — The proposal is so big as to be a bit of a shock to the senses: A $14,000 raise to the minimum teacher pay in Arkansas, which is now $36,000. The $50,000 total would move Arkansas’ starting pay for teachers from 48th in the nation into the top five.

The tricky thing to consider is the cost. The news side of this operation says 15,249 teachers will move up to the higher minimum pay. The math says that’s a spike of $150 million dollars all by itself … in a state that’s already cut income taxes and whose leaders say they want to keep cutting.

What will the impact of all this be on local school district funding, collected through local property taxes? • Student loan forgiveness for some educators — As an incentive for teachers to put their skills to work in school districts facing some challenges, the state would deliver a plan that would ease the burden of student loan payments. This would serve as a strong incentive, especially for teachers just starting out, to pitch in where they’re needed most desperately. Details matter, though. Some forgiveness programs have proven so persnickety that participants fail to ultimately qualify even after believing they’ve done everything right. These teachers deserve an up-front promise of debt reduction, without any after-the-fact shenanigans that end up voiding the intended relief. • Teacher bonuses — Sanders says she’d like to see $10,000 bonuses. to teachers who are “making meaningful gains in the improvement of student outcomes.” That’s not small

potatoes. It’s a big-time bonus, the kind that — if money works as an incentive — should be big enough to inspire or motivate teachers toward improved efforts and results. It communicates to everyone, including those teachers who don’t qualify, that learning and outcomes are THE thing that matters. • Literacy coaches — The governor says funding 120 literacy coaches and the hiring of tutors for struggling students can be part of the solution to the state’s educational challenges. Reading, they say, is fundamental. Readers here won’t be shocked to learn we agree wholeheartedly. Though 120 sounds like a small number relative to the number of schools in the state, you’ve go to start somewhere. • Elimination of the Teacher Fair

Dismissal Act — This one might strike fear into the hearts of some teachers, but if you’re a dedicated and skilled educator, why should it? This piece of legislation has long had a reputation of protecting teachers who shouldn’t be in the classroom, whose practices simply don’t get the job done. Teaching should never be a job for someone willing to turn on the cruise control. It’s a tough job, without question. But it’s a job that’s about educating a new generation. How much more important can a job be? And how much more important can it be that the job be performed exceptionally well?

• School choice — Call them Educational Freedom Accounts or school vouchers, the effect is the same. Sanders’ plan changes the funding structure for public education in Arkansas by allowing parents to receive 90% of a child’s “per student” funding from the state. Parents could then spend that money on either traditional public schools, private schools, parochial schools or even home schooling. The idea is that competition fosters improvement. But could it also undermine the public education system that many will still rely on?

Implementation of this part of the plan is Sanders’ biggest ask, if for no other reason than it creates a path for educational funding to be spent beyond public schools — or as the critics say, drained away from public schools. It envisions a competitive atmosphere in which a school either improves, thrives or closes. Maybe some of that will happen, but will there always be reasonable alternatives if a public school closes?

Sanders plan also includes the ability of homeschooled students to access the state funding for education. Let’s not pretend all homeschooling is the same level of quality. If public funding goes there, the state will need to develop some serious accountability to ensure it’s not money wasted.

Gov. Sanders has heightened the discussion on what Arkansas education needs to look like for the 2020s and beyond. That’s an exceptionally good (and yes, bold) thing. Now, Arkansans rely on their lawmakers to not just accept what Sanders is pitching because it’s Sanders who’s pitching it, but because they’ve determined it makes sense for our state.