From the Arkansas Advocate:
A proposal to amend the Arkansas Constitution’s education clause needs revisions before it can be placed on the 2024 ballot because it contains vague terms and a provision that violates the First Amendment, the state attorney general said Tuesday.
Attorney General Tim Griffin wrote in his opinion that the Educational Rights Amendment of 2024’s proposal to apply “identical State academic standards” and “identical State standards for accreditation” to all schools receiving local or state funds is unconstitutional.
Parochial schools often include religious instruction as part of their curriculum. If enacted, the proposed measure would prevent parochial schools from offering that instruction, violating the First Amendment, Griffin wrote.
“As the Arkansas Supreme Court and several of my predecessors have noted, when a proposal is clearly unconstitutional, its sponsors are not entitled to invoke the legislative process at all,” he said. “It is misleading to present a proposed measure to voters when some or all of that measure is clearly unconstitutional and therefore could not become effective.”
The proposed amendment was submitted by For AR Kids, a coalition that includes the Arkansas Education Association, Arkansas Conference of the NAACP, Arkansas Public Policy Panel, Citizens First Congress and Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students (CAPES).
For AR Kids spokesperson and Arkansas Public Policy Panel Executive Director Bill Kopsky said First Amendment scholars helped draft the proposal and he feels strongly that it does not violate the First Amendment rights of any school.
“Certainly private schools, we agree, have First Amendment rights to teach whatever they would like,” Kopsky told the Advocate. “What they don’t have the right to do is use state funding to teach a different set of standards than are required of any other school receiving state funding.”
Kopsky said the amendment is about public accountability with public funding and is not designed to target private schools. For AR Kids will likely request a meeting with the attorney general’s office to get a better understanding of the First Amendment issue, he said.
Griffin has rejected the first draft of all proposed constitutional amendments for the 2024 ballot, so Kopsky said this response was “wholly expected.” He said he anticipates submitting a revised proposal in the coming days.
“It’s just a process,” he said. “As long as they’re approaching it in good faith and we are too, it should result in better laws.”
The initial ballot language, which was submitted to the attorney general’s office in December, proposes that the state expand its obligation to maintain a “general, suitable, and efficient system of free public schools” to include universal access to pre-K and afterschool and summer programs, assistance to children who are within 200% of the federal poverty line and support services for students with disabilities’ individualized needs.
The proposed amendment also incorporates principles outlined in Lake View School District No. 25 v. Huckabee, a landmark case that led to the overhaul of public school funding with the goal of providing an adequate and equitable education for all Arkansas students.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee’s effort last year to overhaul the state’s education system through the LEARNS Act has resulted in much public debate. The most controversial piece of the law was the creation of a voucher program that provides about $6,600 in state funds for allowable educational expenses, primarily private school tuition, this first year.
Critics of the Educational Freedom Account program argue that it’s unfair because private schools don’t have the same requirements as public schools, such as admitting all students, providing transportation and administering certain standardized exams.
The LEARNS Act does require private schools to administer approved annual exams, but only for students with EFA accounts.
