BAUXITE, Arkansas — The input on Senate Bill 294, the Arkansas LEARNS Act, has been far-reaching.
Students, parents, and legislators are just some of the voices we've heard both for and against. Though now, we're hearing from those who are also directly affected— school districts.
Bauxite Superintendent, Matt Donaghy, explained that the past week has been a blur.
"A bill of this magnitude has huge implications for our school district and our state," Donaghy said. "Some of the stuff is really good, and some of it gives us concerns."
While there are pieces of the bill that Donaghy supports, there are other aspects that keep him from offering his full support. While teacher pay would jump to $50,000 under this bill, it still doesn't address all issues.
"It's a major, major financial burden," he said. "We already spend about 80% of what we get on salaries alone, so there's not a lot of wiggle room, not a lot to play with."
The cost isn't something that Donaghy is confident they would be able to handle.
On school choice, he admits that options are nice to have, but said that the program could cause more harm than good.
"It's hard as an educator to know that some of the people who need it the most will probably not have an opportunity to benefit from the voucher system," Donaghy explained.
Of course, some are all in on the LEARNS Act, including Laurie Lee, who is the chair of the Reform Alliance— which provides scholarships to pursue private school.
"Where they have robust school choice programs, student outcomes are rising," Lee described.
Across their two programs, Lee said they have about a thousand students. If the bill were to pass, she said she doesn't expect that number to spike massively.
"I don't expect it to be this mass exodus from public education," Lee said. "If your child is succeeding in their public school, what's the likelihood that you're going to take that child out of that school? It's negligible."
At Bauxite, Donaghy is still concerned— for his district going forward, and for the questions that he still has.
"There's several things that I really like, but the fact that it's all lumped into one, and has several things I'm concerned about and haven't been able to get answers for, is very concerning," Donaghy said.
The Arkansas LEARNS bill will be in the House Education Committee on Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m.