"Intelligence and virtue being the safeguards of liberty and the bulwark of a free and good government, the State shall ever maintain a general, suitable and efficient system of free public schools and shall adopt all suitable means to secure to the people the advantages and opportunities of education." -- Article 14, Section 1, Arkansas Constitution

Until the LEARNS Act was signed into law by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in 2023, one could reasonably argue that Arkansas had not yet lived up to its constitutional promise. Yes, the state eventually created a system of free public schools via school districts (local taxing authority governments), then later added open-enrollment public charter schools, but "all suitable means" were only available to those with the ability to bear 100 percent of the cost.

With one act, Arkansas prioritized (L)iteracy, (E)mpowerment, (A)ccountability, (R)eadiness, (N)et-working, and (S)afety in all things education. But the Arkansas Education Association/National Education Association (AEA/NEA)--commonly known as the teachers' union--was not happy with Arkansas' prioritizing student success over system sameness. So, under the acronym of CAPES (Citizens for Public Education and Students), the union and its radical leftist allies attempted to overturn the widely supported LEARNS Act through a referendum.

And yet the teachers' union and many of the same adult-focused organizations then sought to put their Orwellian-titled "Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment of 2024" on the general election ballot. If passed, the amendment would have actually denied Arkansans' hard-won education rights, many of which have been afforded by the historic enactment of LEARNS.

But right on schedule, in their desperate pursuit of relevance, the same groups are once again gathering signatures for the same petition to place the same copied and pasted amendment on the November 2026 ballot.

The amendment's advocates seek to impose central government control sameness on all Arkansas education--resident school districts, open-enrollment public charter schools, private/independent schools, micro schools, and home schools.

Choice is no longer choice if all choices are the same. And if the amendment passes, Arkansas education options will devolve back into the haves and have-nots.

While the proposed amendment's supporters want the public to believe all they are after is "fairness," their proposed amendment will actually devastate Arkansas' robust portfolio of education options by mandating "identical academic standards and identical standards for accreditation." That also means that all school districts, all magnet schools, all academies, all conversion charter schools, and all open-enrollment public charter schools will be the same. And "same" is the opposite of "choice."

The last sentence of the proposed amendment title is perhaps its most damning, in its "... requiring the General Assembly to enact legislation to implement this amendment, including allocating funding necessary to fully implement this amendment; forbidding the General Assembly from amending, altering, or repealing this amendment absent a vote of the people; and providing that this amendment's provisions are severable."

Note that there are no cost estimates or spending caps in the amendment.

That means the Legislature must issue a blank check, no matter the cost to Arkansas taxpayers, to fund every aspect of the amendment, including: 1. universal access to government pre-K for all children ages three to kindergarten, 2. universal access to government after school and summer school programs, 3. unspecified government welfare to all students within 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($99,000 for a family of four); and 4. a 120-word state government definition of "adequate education," which will mean whatever the courts decide it means.

Ours is a constitutional republic, created to guard against the tyranny of the majority and remain nimble to the ever-changing needs of the people. Enshrining unlimited spending in our Constitution and unspecified taxpayer-funded welfare to such a large percentage of our population will bankrupt our state, ensuring the swift decline of not only Arkansas education, but our way of life.

To get their proposed amendment on the ballot, the union and its allies must gather at least 90,704 signatures of Arkansas registered voters from at least 50 Arkansas counties and turn them in to the Secretary of State by July 3.

With 1,766,581 registered voters in Arkansas as of June 6, 2022, just a little over 5 percent could get this measure on the ballot.

By contrast, it took at least 1 over 50 percent of both the House and Senate Committees on Education (11 percent of House members and 14 percent of Senate) to get a floor vote on the LEARNS Act at the Legislature.

Unlike those elected by the people, the teachers' union and its allies do not mirror Arkansans' values. For decades, the union dominated the Little Rock School District. And now, that same organization wants to extend the dysfunction it fostered in Little Rock to all of Arkansas.

But don't take my or anyone else's word for it. Read the proposed amendment ballot title for yourself and beware of the union's Trojan horse. By simply reading and understanding the title, we believe a vast majority of Arkansans will decline to sign, the petition drive will fail again, and Arkansas will continue its nation-leading education ascent.

Most importantly, our representative government, as required by our Constitution, shall continue to "adopt all suitable means to secure to the people the advantages and opportunities of education."

Gary Newton is an advocate for student focus, transparency, accountability, rewards, and choice in Arkansas education.

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