If you care about public education, you have to get involved in what’s known as “the adequacy process.” The Arkansas Constitution requires the state to provide an adequate and equitable education for all students in grades K-12. And the state’s Supreme Court mandates the state to conduct an ongoing study of whether we are really doing that, in terms of student services, teacher salaries, school facilities, transportation, and much more.
The Joint House and Senate Education Committees are kicking off the 2019-2020 biennial adequacy study this Tuesday at 9:00 a.m., in “Big MAC” room A, in the building on the west side of the state Capitol. All education committee meetings are open to the public and live-streamed on the General Assembly’s website. You can find the meeting agenda, handouts, committee members, and video streaming at the link below.
All adequacy reports since 2003 can be found on the Arkansas Bureau of Legislative Research’s website: https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/education/K12/Pages/AdequacyReports.aspx
Let’s make this the biennium when Arkansas moves from “adequacy” to excellence!