The legislation makes Arkansas the fifth state — following Arizona, Iowa, Utah and West Virginia — to enact a universal program for so-called school choice, as more Republican-led legislatures prioritize taking up voucher policies.
But critics say the voucher program essentially functions as a tax stipend for families with the means to enroll their child into private or charter institutions or home-schooling, among other concerns like funding the program long-term.
"We've never put this many important topics into one piece of legislation and voted on it with one vote," state Sen. Reginald Murdock, a Democrat, said on Tuesday., Sanders -- a former Trump White House spokesperson whose father, Mike Huckabee, previously served as Arkansas' governor -- said she hopes to be known as "the education governor." She then laid out details of her agenda in the Republican State of the Union response last month.
Arkansas lawmakers gather in the House of Representatives chamber at the state Capitol, Jan. 9, 2023, in Little Rock, Ark.More than 1,000 students at Little Rock Central High School, Sanders' alma mater, walked out of classes on Friday to protest LEARNS. "It was already stressful to have to speak in front of a Senate but then to have to speak without a prepared speech, while you're constantly getting interrupted, was much worse," May told ABC News in a phone interview. "I absolutely had frustrated tears, but they were also tears of embarrassment ... I think it just hit me that this bill was going to be passed on their time, no matter what.
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