September 9-13 will be full of opportunities for advocates to get more engaged in education issues affecting students across our state:
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS:
First, the House and Senate Education Committees will hold a meeting on a range of education issues on Monday, September 9, at 1:30 p.m. Then on Tuesday, September 10, at 9:00 a.m., the Committees will hold the next “adequacy” meeting. As mentioned in our previous post, the Arkansas Supreme Court requires the state to conduct an ongoing study of whether Arkansas is providing an “adequate” and “equitable” public education to all students. Over half of our state’s budget is spent on K-12 education, and this study is critical to informing how that money is distributed. Students need far more of us to pay attention and get involved in this process, so we can move Arkansas from adequacy to excellence.
Both Education Committee meetings will be held in room A of the “Big MAC” building, directly across from the Capitol on the west side. See links below for the agendas, meeting documents, and live streaming.
Monday: House and Senate Education Committee meeting:
Tuesday: House and Senate Education Adequacy Committee meeting
Meeting documents: TBD
Live streaming (Click the camera to the right of the Senate or House Education Committee agenda, which will be posted before the meetings.)
Senate Education Committee members and contact info
House Education Committee members and contact info
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETINGS:
The State Board of Education also will hold a work session regarding the status of the Little Rock School District on Wednesday, September 11, at 5:30 pm. The Board then will hold its regular monthly meetings on Thursday, September 12, at 10:00 a.m., and Friday, September 13, at 9:00 a.m. All meetings will be held in the Auditorium of the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, Four Capitol Mall, Little Rock, AR 72201.