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American schools are letting our children down. Between an unscientific pandemic lockdown, new curricula designed to indoctrinate students, and years of administrative neglect, American children are no longer learning the basics of reading, writing and math. It is unacceptable and it is time for a change.
The time has come for a new generation of Republican leaders on education. The Sanders administration has no interest in being the manager of a failed status quo. When we took office, we pledged to be changemakers for the people of Arkansas.
Just one month into the new government, it has already delivered on its promises.
Arkansas is where children who were once kept out of school are commemorated in bronze on the State Capitol. We believe that giving is a civil rights issue today.
We recently announced LEARNS in Arkansas. This is the most sweeping, bold, and conservative education reform in the nation. For Arkansas students, these radical changes did not come immediately.
government.Sarah Huckabee Sanders announces sweeping education reforms to tackle CRT, school choice and teacher wages
Arkansas spends half of its state budget on education, but only 35% of third graders can read at grade level. Families are trapped in failed school districts, but parental choice programs are essentially non-existent. Like most states, we are grappling with teacher shortages. It doesn’t help that Arkansas currently offers the lowest teacher salaries in the country.
Arkansas LEARNS is a comprehensive plan to address all these issues by meeting the needs of teachers, respecting the rights of parents, and most importantly, providing the quality education children deserve. is.
The measure begins by providing immediate incentives to attract and retain the best teachers in the country. Raises starting teacher salaries from $36,000 to $50,000 and raises salaries for all teachers. Arkansas ended up in the top five instead of her 48th in the nation for starting teacher salaries. We know that teachers have a huge impact on student learning. That’s why we invest in recruiting and retaining the best talent.
But we must not forget about the first and most important teachers of children – parents. We have children and refuse to sit on the sidelines of their education.
It starts with giving parents the option to send their children to the schools that best meet their needs, regardless of income, wherever they live. We are rolling out new Education Freedom accounts to help families enroll their children in the school that best suits them, whether public, private, parochial or homeschooled.
To the critics who say this hurts public schools: Research shows the opposite to be true. , compete. If the local school district is the best option, it will stay with most families, but won’t lose a child.
We also respect the rights of parents to protect their children from inappropriate topics. That means banning left-wing political indoctrination and keeping obscene material away from young children.
Most importantly, this law ensures that all Arkansas students graduate with the education and training they need to succeed in life.
We know that reading by the third grade is essential to a child’s success. Until this moment the child has learned to read, and from then on he reads to learn. Her 70% of people incarcerated in Arkansas cannot read. This cannot continue. Across the state she has 120 reading coaches and to students who are still struggling she has provided a $500 tutoring grant to ensure students and teachers have the resources they need to address this issue. make it possible.
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Once students enter high school, they should be ready to get a job soon after graduation. That’s why we’ve launched a dual diploma program in every Arkansas high school, partnering with local employers to help students find employment in their communities.
And one of the best things about learning Arkansas is that you don’t have to raise any taxes to pay for it. It is funded through a combination of federal grants and existing state funding. In fact, Arkansas is on track to cut taxes again this year.
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The problems facing our schools require bold new conservative solutions. Fortunately, America has all of its bold new conservative governors ready to get to work.
This administration is spearheading conservative education reforms and creating a new model for the nation to deal with the fallout from plans to take over schools from misguided left-wing schemes. It’s the blueprint for the whole thing, ready to be enacted into law.
Jacob Oliva is Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Education and Commissioner of the Department’s Elementary and Secondary Education Division.
