Category Archives: Education

Tax credits for private school scholarship bill fails

Note: Senate Bill 620 never ran in committee. Instead, Johnson tried to run another scholarship bill, Senate Bill 539, that failed in the House Education Committee April 4. 

By Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

This is the part of the legislative session when you might expect Gov. Asa Hutchinson to set it on cruise control. Instead, he made a right turn last week and stepped on the gas.

I write that first sentence because he’s accomplished three of his four priorities: a tax cut, increased highway funding, and higher teacher pay. All that’s left is shrinking the number of state agencies from 42 to 15. That government transformation is slowly working its way through the Legislature – as one would expect with a 2,000-page bill.

Still to come is the Revenue Stabilization Act process, where lawmakers will determine exactly how tax dollars will be spent. There might be a big fight over the Arkansas Works health program, but probably not. Then everyone can go home.

Hutchinson has accomplished a lot and still has a lot to do, which is one reason his strong support of Senate Bill 620 by Sen. Blake Johnson, R-Corning, and Rep. Ken Bragg, R-Sheridan, is interesting. Continue reading →

Senator wants to starve kids!

By Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Democracy is hard. It’s even harder when journalists don’t do their jobs.

Such has been the case the past couple of weeks regarding an Arkansas bill that sounds like it cuts school lunches for poor kids, but doesn’t.

Senate Bill 349 by Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, would set up a process for reducing and then ending National School Lunch Act state categorical funding for some poorly performing districts.

If you read that quickly, what word stood out? For many, it’s “lunch.” That’s especially the case for those who also might be inclined to react unfavorably to the “R” beside Clark’s name. Continue reading →

Should schools be required to teach about real news?

Julie Mayberry

Rep. Julie Mayberry, R-Hensley, has pre-filed a bill that would require Arkansas high schools to offer journalism as an elective.

By Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Society needs people who can produce real news, so should Arkansas high schools be required to offer a class teaching those skills?

Rep. Julie Mayberry, R-Hensley, says yes, which is why her House Bill 1015 would require high schools to offer journalism as an elective. That’s the way it was until July 2018, when the Arkansas Board of Education voted to instead allow school districts the option of providing the class.

Mayberry believes that was a mistake for several reasons. Journalism has always been a critical check and balance on the government. In fact, she said, it’s so important that the Founding Fathers listed freedom of the press in the very First Amendment. She as a legislator relies on the newspaper to inform her about meetings she can’t attend. Continue reading →

For one teacher, following her calling has its rewards

Tasha Wilson

Tasha Wilson reacts to receiving a Milken Educator Award.

By Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Kingsland Elementary second grade teacher Tasha Wilson received an early Christmas present Nov. 30 – $25,000 for doing her job well.

The award came from the Milken Family Foundation, which this year recognized 40 mid-career educators nationwide. Seventy-four Arkansans have received the award since its creation in 1987. Wilson was the only one this year.

Dr. Jane Foley, Milken Educator Awards senior vice president, made the surprise announcement after traveling from California to Kingsland, a south Arkansas town that’s also the birthplace of Johnny Cash. Students and teachers had been told they were assembling to celebrate Kingsland Elementary being one of three Arkansas schools named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. Then Foley made the big reveal. Continue reading →

Fort Smith college students Fix the Debt

By Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

At the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Friday, more than 220 college students, including sophomore Garrett Spain from Greenwood, tried to do what Congress is unwilling to do – get the government’s debt under control.

The students gathered at two dozen tables, each with a laptop, and worked together using the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s (CRFB) Debt Fixer tool. That’s an online resource that lets users see how the federal budget would be affected by selecting various spending cuts and tax increases.

The goal of Friday’s exercise was not to pay down the $21.6 trillion national debt. Instead, it was to get the red ink under control. The $15.8 trillion public debt (what the government owes everyone but itself) is 77 percent of the gross domestic product and growing rapidly. By 2028, it is projected to be 97 percent, meaning it will be the same size as the economy. The goal for the students was to stabilize it at 70 percent by 2028, and 40 percent by 2050. Continue reading →