When Keith A. Nitta, then of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, and I developed our 2008 study “Arkansas Education in the Post-Lake View Era: What Is Arkansas Doing to Close the Achievement Gap?,” Arkansas was just emerging from the dramatic alterations in state education policy created by the adequacy and equity […]

Even during relatively “good” economic times in Northwest Arkansas, child poverty has grown faster than the overall population. As our region has grown more successful, many of our children have fallen behind. While the region’s poverty percentage is lower than that of most of the state, the number of children living in poverty in both Washington and Benton counties is higher […]

In 2013, one out of four Arkansans did not have health insurance. Thousands of low-income Arkansans made too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to receive financial help in the health insurance Marketplace (through tax subsidies). Arkansas faced a looming Medicaid budget shortfall, all while more than half a million Arkansans had no health coverage. […]

Imagine you’re exhausted. You’ve worked for the past 20 hours straight, your son has a cold that has gotten worse over the last week and your daycare won’t let him come back until he’s fever-free. You have to take tomorrow off from both your jobs to stay home with him and you don’t have the […]

The state budget, or what the state chooses to spend money on, is essentially a list of priorities. As with any state budget, the financial demands on the Arkansas budget far exceed our state’s ability to meet all needs. There is never enough state revenue to provide funding for all programs. Overly conservative state budgeting […]

Each year, law enforcement action is taken in more than 3,000 incidents in Arkansas schools. Just last month, 12 students were arrested at a single Pine Bluff high school, allegedly after a fight. All students were between 14 and 15 years old and each was charged with disorderly conduct. There were no reports of weapons or serious […]

Because ARKids First is a vital link to health services for so many of our state’s children, we must very carefully consider any changes to coverage options. In Arkansas, 52 percent of children receive coverage through ARKids First (Arkansas’s Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP). CHIP can be tailored to meet the needs of the state and provides coverage […]

The wisest investment Arkansas can make in its people is to provide quality pre-K. Arkansas is a poor state where almost one-third of our children live in poverty and more than 60 percent are eligible for free and reduced lunches. Failing to ensure that these children are ready to learn when they start school greatly […]

Beginning on October 1, 2013, more than 500,000 uninsured Arkansans had a new opportunity to access comprehensive and affordable health coverage through the Affordable Care Act and Arkansas’s Private Option. More than 44,000 people signed up for coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace during the first open enrollment period from October 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014. As […]

The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) recently submitted waiver amendments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make several changes to the Private Option beginning February 1, 2015. As required by Act 257 of 2014, DHS must submit and seek approval from HHS to make the following changes: • Creation […]