Believe it or not, lawmakers will be talking about issues other than the Private Option during the 2014 fiscal session which begins today. One of those issues is how to best spend funds aimed at helping poorer students perform...
In our fifth installment of our #KeepARCoverage series, we are introduced to Hope Smith, who lives and works in Jonesboro. Hope is passionate about the violin and she’s sharing that passion by teaching would-be violinists in her community....
Arkansas’s Current Minimum Wage Is Inadequate A fair and adequate minimum wage is critical to a strong economic system that both supports the economic well-being of workers and their families and meets the labor needs of businesses. Unfortunately, although...
This is a quick and simple way to see where funding for Arkansas P-12 education comes from, how it’s used, and AACF’s recommendations for how to support low-income students effectively (Please feel free to share this image. It prints...
While a comprehensive plan for improving the Arkansas tax system is beyond the scope of this brief, there are some obvious changes that Arkansas could make to (1) strengthen the revenue foundation for the services needed to improve the...
Arkansas is home to one of the largest populations of Marshallese individuals in the world — people who were born in the Republic of the Marshall Islands but moved here for employment and to have a better life. They...
People from all over the state – who have interests as varied as the counties from which they come – routinely ask us how they can make a difference. This question has several answers, but every one of them...
Now that the dust has settled from the 2013 legislative session, it’s a good time to take stock of the impacts of tax policy changes made by the Arkansas General Assembly. By any objective standard, the tax changes passed...
The quality of school facilities can have a major impact on the education that our children receive and whether they succeed in school. State funding for school facilities should be increased to meet the needs of all districts. The official...
Poverty numbers don’t look good for Arkansas Numbers released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau show poverty is on the rise in Arkansas. The 2011 American Community Survey numbers show that total poverty has increased to just under 20...