MARVELL, Ark. — A suit was filed on Monday to dispute and block the takeover of Marvell-Elaine schools in Arkansas, saying an emergency clause was not properly voted on for the LEARNS Act that was signed into law in March.
The complaint is accusing the Arkansas Department of Education, the Arkansas State Board of Education, and Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva, all of "illegal" and "unconstitutional" actions.
This suit comes after the Arkansas State Board of Education voted last Friday, May 5, to unanimously allow Secretary Oliva to enter what's being referred to as a "transformation contract" with Friendship Education Foundation to take over the Marvell-Elaine School District.
The authority to establish this "contract" was made possible through the recently passed LEARNS Act, which has seen its own fair share of praise and criticism as a whole.
Lawyers for the group say the emergency clause of the LEARNS Act is "invalid and ineffective" due to the clause not being passed by a separate roll-call vote with a two-thirds majority.
They argue that since the emergency clause was not properly adopted, the LEARNS Act is not yet law and any action is not yet legal.
If a law is passed in Arkansas without an emergency clause, it will go into effect 90 days after the end of the legislative session.
If it is passed with an emergency clause, it will usually go into effect the moment it is signed into law by the governor.
Arkansas House Speaker Matthew Shepherd said that emergency clause votes are "recorded separately in the House Journal" and claimed the House "handled it consistent with its long-standing constitutional practice."
Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students (CAPES), who joined the lawsuit, is a group looking to put a petition on the ballot to repeal the Arkansas LEARNS Act.
The group said they joined the lawsuit due to the Marvell-Elaine School District being "harmed" by the state turning it into a charter school.
"It is our belief that the failure to adequately fund and support the Marvell-Elaine School District falls directly on the state and the community should not have to bear the brunt of the state’s mishandling," the group said in a statement. "The People, including the people of Marvell-Elaine School District, should be able to vote for or against LEARNS."