A bill failed in an Arkansas legislative committee Tuesday which would have put regulations on private schools that receive public funds.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has said her omnibus education bill will include money for needy parents to enroll their children in private schools. A bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Jim Wooten of Beebe would require those schools to be subject to standardized tests, and admit every applicant who receives state dollars. The bill would also force private schools to cover the costs of standardized testing.
Wooten told members of the House Education committee the bill is intended to create fairness for taxpayers and parents.
“This bill is intended to provide accountability,” Wooten said, explaining that he has nothing against private schools.
Throughout his presentation to the committee, he repeated the word “accountability,” and reiterated his belief that the regulations in the bill would be fairer to Arkansas citizens who are giving tax money to these schools.
The bill was not well received by committee members. Many were concerned that tests are not a good way to measure student success and aptitude.
“I don't like a test,” Wooten responded. “Because to me a test is that point in time, but that's the only measurement that we have to be able to measure.”
Ryan Norris, State Director for the conservative advocacy group Americans For Prosperity, spoke against the bill under the concern that it could violate the Supreme Court case Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn.
“Arkansas should not pass a bill with this built-in challenge,” he said.
Rep. Stephen Meeks, R-Greenbrier, explained that many parents choose private schools because they don't have the same academic standards as public schools.
“Regardless of what happens on the test, parents are going to be the ultimate guard of whether that school is meeting the needs of that child or not,” he said, calling the testing “superfluous.”
Others worried the bill would put a large burden on private schools which may not have seats for every student who receives state dollars for tuition.
Rep. Vivian Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, spoke in favor of the bill. She thanked Wooten for sponsoring it and argued that the bill was more consistent.
“Isn't everything that we're doing, especially in terms of saying that public schools are falling, predicated upon those tests when we have teachers screaming from the rafters talking about how it is not effective?”
The bill failed with 12 lawmakers voting against it and four voting in its favor. Wooten has a similar bill on the agenda to require private schools that get public money to provide student transportation.
