In The News

LITTLE ROCK – The Senate Education Committee and full Senate on Wednesday signed off on a bill that will allow families to claim tax deductions if they withdraw money from Act 529 college-savings accounts to pay for private-school tuition. SB6 started out as an amendment to the state treasurer’s appropriation bill. It was added by Senator Jason Rapert in the Special Language Committee. Lawmakers, however, were unable to pass the appropriation until the controversial amendment was stripped from the appropriation bill. Read More

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas House representatives voted Thursday to remove the controversial Act 529 amendment from the state treasurer’s appropriation bill. HB1122 was then sent back to the Joint Budget Committee before it was voted out of the House and sent to the Senate. The amendment, which was added to the bill by Senator Jason Rapert in a Special Language Committee meeting, would have allowed families to use money from their Act 529 college savings accounts to pay for K-12 education expenses. Read More

By CATHY FRYE LITTLE ROCK – The State Board of Education on Thursday heard from four districts whose requests for school-choice exemptions were denied by the Department of Education. Those districts included: the Camden Fairview School District, Hope Public Schools, the Lafayette County School District, and the Junction City School District. Read More

By CATHY FRYE LITTLE ROCK – An appropriation bill for the state treasurer’s office died once again on the House floor Wednesday when lawmakers couldn’t reach an agreement on an amendment that would allow families to use money from their Act 529 college savings accounts to pay for K-12 private-school tuition. Read More

In August 2016, the Legislative Task Force on the Best Practices for Special Education recommended that the Catastrophic Special Education Fund be increased from $11 million per year to $30 million. That didn’t happen. Instead, the fund – after two increases – now stands at $13 million. Read More