LITTLE ROCK – In 2023 the legislature enacted major changes to state laws affecting the operations of public schools and state prisons.
The centerpiece of the 2023 session was the LEARNS Act, a proposal by the governor to make school choice more affordable, raise teacher salaries and train high school students for well-paid jobs even if they choose not to go to college.
It raises minimum teacher pay from $36,000 to $50,000. That benefits 15,249 teachers. It provides a raise of $2,000 for veteran teachers. Also, teachers are now eligible for 12 weeks of paid maternity leave. There are financial incentives of up to $10,000 for teachers who excel in the classroom.
The act created Education Freedom Accounts to help parents pay for tuition at private or parochial schools. The initial amount proposed would be 90 percent of per pupil foundation rate of $7,413 this year. It repealed the cap on charter schools and removed the limit on school choice transfers.
Schools with poor results on school report cards will be able to hire an additional 120 literacy coaches. The families of students who are struggling in kindergarten through grade three can apply for $500 to hire a tutor. Literacy standards for K-3 are tougher, so that more students read at grade level before they move up to fourth grade.
It expands school safety measures, such as more training in crisis response and mental health awareness.
To better prepare high schoolers for the workforce, it directs high schools to offer dual course tracks. Students can choose career training for highly-paid jobs, or an academic college preparatory curriculum.
Beginning in 2026, high school students must complete 75 hours of community service in order to graduate.
Also this year the legislature approved Act 659, the Protect Arkansas Act. It lengthens prison sentences for violent offenders and requires inmates to work harder to qualify for parole.
One goal is to provide juries with more accurate information about the length of the actual prison sentences time that convicted criminals are truly going to serve.
Criminals convicted of rape and capital murder would serve 100 percent of their sentences. The 100 percent standard also applies to aggravated robbery, human trafficking, Internet stalking of a child and more serious categories of aggravated residential burglary.
Offenders would serve 85 percent of their sentence after conviction for a long list of violent felonies, including second degree murder and first degree sexual assault.
Making offenders serve longer sentences would bring Arkansas sentencing guidelines more in line with those used by federal prisons, where people convicted of federal crimes serve almost all of their sentence.
The legislature approved funding for more prison beds to more effectively implement Act 659, and to reduce overcrowding in county jails that hold state inmates. On a typical day, county jails house about 2,000 convicted state inmates, creating dangers for jail staff and people in jail for minor offenses.
Prison reform will be a major issue in 2024 because the governor, the attorney general and the Board of Correction are in a highly publicized legal dispute over how quickly those beds can be opened.
