LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — After hours of debate and testimony, members of the Senate Education Committee passed the Arkansas LEARNS Act on Wednesday afternoon.
The bill is now headed to the Senate floor.
Senate Bill 294 spent all of Wednesday in that committee, as legislators and the public discussed it. Despite being held in a room meant to hold bigger crowds, it still wasn't enough to completely support everyone who showed up to listen and testify.
"It is my honor to present to this committee the single largest investment in public schools that Arkansas has ever seen," Sponsoring State Senator Breanne Davis, (R-Russellville), said.
Spanning 144 pages, SB294 covers a wide range of education topics.
"A question that so many members in my community want to know," State Senator Linda Chesterfield, (D-Pulaski County), said. "What is Critical Race Theory?"
From CRT to school choice, teacher contracts, and teacher pay, questions came from multiple legislators.
"We should be celebrating about this salary proposal because we're going from 48th in the nation in starting salary to the top 5," Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva, said.
While questions were in-depth and detailed, Senator Davis said that she understands.
"This is a part of legislating," she said. "You don't agree with someone 100% of the time on every bill."
There are parts, though, that do have bipartisan support. Although State Senator Greg Leding, (D-Fayetteville), explained that there are sections he can't get behind.
"As I said in committee, even if there's just some small portion in there that you can't live with, that's going to make it really difficult to vote for the bill," Leding said.
This was also the first chance for the public to weigh in.
"I want you to think about what you're trying to do here," Barry Jefferson with the Arkansas NAACP said. "It's not working. Vouchers do not work."
At the end of the meeting, Leding said he felt as if there were more questions than answers, and he hoped to push things back.
"I would love to see a delay on the vote, so we have more time to talk to our principals, teachers, superintendents," Leding said. "I have a lot of questions I wasn't able to get to today."
That bill is expected to be in the full Senate on Thursday at 11:00 a.m.