LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A Pulaski County judge gave public school advocates a chance to take on and take down the LEARNS Act Tuesday morning.
Attorneys critical of the enormous education reform law claim the state legislature did not vote correctly when the LEARNS Act was passed, focusing Tuesday's hearing on the so-called "emergency clause," which would make the law take effect right away.
The hearing came together because LEARNS opponents convinced Judge Herbert Wright that lawmakers failed to follow a procedure set down in the state constitution.
Wright put the law on hold before the Arkansas Supreme Court reversed the restraining order.
“We are actively collecting signatures," said Veronica McClane, chair of Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students (CAPES). "We're actively training more volunteers and taking donations."
The group has been working to block the LEARNS Act.
“The most important part of this is that if the emergency clause is ruled unconstitutional, we can hold the LEARNS Act in abeyance until the people get a chance to vote,” McClane said.
CAPES and public school advocates said the state constitution is clear, to make a law go into effect right away, there must be an emergency and lawmakers must vote on the bill and the emergency clause separately.
Attorney Ali Noland, who represents the plaintiffs, said it's clear that wasn't done.
“The evidence today unequivocally showed that the emergency clause was not passed with a separate roll call vote as required in the constitution,” Noland said.
The key evidence in Tuesday's courtroom was a video of when the House and Senate voted on the LEARNS Act. It shows a process the legislature has been using for years.
They tell members they're voting on both simultaneously but record the two votes separately in the official journals.
The state said the journals are all that matter.
The judge wouldn't allow cameras to see and hear the witnesses; parliamentarians, the staff in charge of how the Senate chamber works, took the stand.
They testified to what happened when the votes took place but didn't give an opinion of whether it was proper, leaving Noland to fill in the blanks for Wright.
“The constitution says separate votes," Noland said. "The legislature didn't take separate votes... The state should not then be able to apply the LEARNS Act illegally in a way that harms my clients and harms their children."
Attorneys representing the state were not able to speak on camera Tuesday, but Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin shared a statement with us.
“I am aggressively and proudly defending the LEARNS Act and the constitutionality of the process by which it and countless other pieces of legislation have been passed by the General Assembly," Griffin said. "I look forward to receiving Judge Wright’s ruling in this case."
Closing statements were not made Tuesday. Wright said a decision will be made within the next two weeks.