King says LEARNS program is ‘underwater’

State Sen. Bryan King

State Sen. Bryan King of Green Forest reiterated his support for school choice last week, but argued that Arkansas’ LEARNS Act is a fiscally irresponsible way to provide it.

“When I first went to the legislature in 2006, I was for school choice, accountability and transparency,” King said in an interview with the Times-Echo on Friday, April 17. “I’m for performance-based school choice. It’s pretty much the same position I have now.”

What has changed, King said, is public perception of his stance.

“I was hated by public school people and liked by homeschool people,” he said of his early days as a legislator.

Now, the opposite is true, King said.

While King said his position has not changed, he has been outspoken in his concerns about the LEARNS Act — in particular the Educational Freedom Accounts established as part of the law, which was adopted by legislators in 2023 at the urging of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

The Educational Freedom Accounts provide state funding for students who are homeschooled or attend private school. King has called for an overhaul of that system, describing it as “financially unsustainable.”

King has proposed an alternative to the voucher program, including barring students already enrolled in private schools from receiving funds, requiring participants to take the same standardized tests as public school students, and extending mandatory abuse reporting requirements to private and homeschool settings.

Overriding all of his other concerns, King said, is the LEARNS Act’s impact on the overall state budget.

“This program’s underwater,” he said. “It was underwater $120 million last year. It’s going to be worse this year. And anytime you have a government program that’s underwater, you’ve got to take corrective action, or it’s just going to get worse. It’s no different than if you just keep walking out in the lake and it just keeps getting deeper and deeper and deeper and it gets harder to get out of. So with that comes difficult decisions.”

King said he has heard from several homeschool parents in State Senate District 28, which includes all of Carroll, Boone, Madison and Newton counties, as well as portions of Franklin and Johnson counties.

“Most of the misconceptions I get from homeschool parents are that their sons or daughters test well,” King said. “Well, if you test well, then you will continue to receive funding.”

According to documents provided by King, a total of 44,456 students received a total of $305,190,400 in educational vouchers for the current school year, an average of $6,865 per student.

More than 25 percent of that funding went to students in Pulaski County, with another 13.8 percent going to students in Benton County. A total of 17,362 students in those two counties received a little more than $119 million in vouchers.

In Carroll County, 422 students received a total of $2.896 million in vouchers for the current school year.

King said he’d like to set up a public meeting to interact with parents regarding his proposal. He said one parent he’s received feedback from has repeatedly objected to “government intrusion.”

“Well, you’re getting government money,” King said.

King also criticized Sanders’ approach to budgeting.

“She hasn’t figured out how to pay for anything,” he said. “All she does is, just like the LEARNS deal, is say ‘I’m giving you a seven-day, all-inclusive vacation,’ and she’s paying you for a one-way ticket down there and about three nights’ lodging.”