Education Secretary Jacob Oliva speaks at a press conference on Feb. 14, 2025 as Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders listens. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)
Legislation that would overhaul the state’s higher education system awaits the governor’s signature following the approval of identical bills by the Arkansas Legislature on Monday.
Arkansas ACCESS, a legislative priority for Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, would make changes to the state’s funding model, scholarships, course credits and the admissions process, among other things.
After Republicans Sen. Jonathan Dismang of Searcy and Rep. Matthew Shepherd of El Dorado filed Senate Bill 246 and House Bill 1512 last month, the legislation continued to be “a work-in-progress” for weeks, House Speaker Rep. Brian Evans, R-Cabot, told the Advocate Monday.
“We had a lot of input from stakeholders, both from higher ed to the public, and feel like the end result is a very good compromise piece of legislation,” Evans said. “It looks like the support in both the House and the Senate has been very strong. There’s even been some bipartisan support on that, so we appreciated that understanding.”
Speaking from the House floor Thursday, Rep. Lincoln Barnett, D-Hughes, said even though he appreciated parts of Arkansas ACCESS, the legislation should have been run separately instead of a large 123-page bill, which allows lawmakers “to sneak in the bad along with the good.”
Arkansas ACCESS reduces the size and membership of a variety of boards and councils, and Barnett said he was particularly concerned about the removal of “critical stakeholders” from a council designed to close the achievement gap.
“This bill aims to erase and ignore continued realities of existing disparities when it comes to the field of education,” Barnett said. “…I am strongly opposed to this bill for the manner in which it was run. The process has been rushed. Input from others was sought on the back end rather than on the front end, and voices of our youth, our educators and key stakeholders have been ignored or at best, half-listened to.”
Several students voiced their displeasure during last week’s Joint Education Committee meeting over a prohibition on granting excused absences to public high school and college students who participate in political protests or attempts to influence legislation or other governmental policymaking.
As someone who visited the Legislature as a teenager, Evans said he understood the importance of involving youth in the process of the General Assembly. The implications of the bills’ original language “was an unintended consequence,” he said.
“I think there were some House members that felt like that may need to have been amended in order so that we could encourage and let it be a part of a field trip, let it be a part of coming and seeing the process of how legislation moves, special events, special interest topics…it would have just been an error in not allowing that, so I think it was good to get those discussions,” Evans said.
Higher education bill receives initial approval from Arkansas lawmakers
The committee did adopt an amendment presented by the bill’s sponsors that would allow high school students to be granted an excused absence for engaging in governmental policymaking with parental consent. School districts would also be required to submit an annual report to the state education department on the absences.
The amendment left the original prohibition intact for college students, who also could be found liable for property damage that occurs during a protest. Under the legislation, students would not receive their degree or credential, or have their credits transferred to another Arkansas school until they pay for the damaged property.
Additional provisions of the legislation include a focus on “accelerated learning” that will expand high school students’ access to courses beyond the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs. The legislation also has provisions aimed at supporting participation in concurrent credit courses that allow high school students to take courses for college credit.
As part of an effort to streamline participation in higher education, Arkansas ACCESS proposes creating a universal college application, a common-course numbering system among state institutions and a program that would establish provisional admission to students who meet basic standards.
Both the Arkansas House and Senate approved Arkansas ACCESS Monday without discussion.
Reporter Tess Vrbin contributed to this report.
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