More than 16K Students Apply for School Choice Funding Under LEARNS Act

Education, ,

The Arkansas Department of Education reports more than 16,000 students have applied for Education Freedom Account (EFA) funding under Arkansas’ LEARNS Act. Families can use EFA funding to help their children receive a publicly-funded education at a public or private school or at home.

Since COVID-19, enrollment in private schools and in home schooling has surged in Arkansas.

In 2023 the Arkansas Legislature passed the LEARNS Act creating Education Freedom Accounts in Arkansas. The law also prohibits critical race theory in public schools, and it protects young elementary school children from inappropriate sexual material.

Many families feel like public education has deteriorated over the years, and they don’t like the direction it is heading. For those families, EFA funding and school choice legislation like the LEARNS Act could empower them with real alternatives that will help their children succeed.

That is part of the reason Family Council supported the 2023 LEARNS Act.

The fact that the State of Arkansas has received more than 16,000 applications for EFA funding shows there is serious demand for school choice in Arkansas.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Casino Pushes for Rule Change Allowing Statewide Gambling Online

Gambling

KFSM reports Saracen Casino in pushing for a rule change that would effectively allow casino-style gambling statewide online.

Under current law, gambling is allowed at Arkansas’ three casinos — Oaklawn, Southland, and Saracen — and sports betting is allowed online via smart phones.

The casino’s proposed rule change reportedly would let people gamble on table games and slots online from anywhere in Arkansas.

Family Council opposes gambling — but online gambling is a particularly serious problem. The rule change could turn smart phones into pocketsize casinos.

Compulsive gamblers could gamble — and lose — 24 hours a day from anywhere in the state. That kind of gambling ruins lives, tears families apart, and hurts communities.

We already have seen how gambling addiction has become a serious problem in our state. Earlier this year the Arkansas Problem Gambling Council announced it has seen a 22% increase in calls for help with problem gambling — driven largely by sports betting.

Legalizing other types of online gambling would simply make these problems worse.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Calling All Ministers: Join Family Council’s Church Ambassador Network

Religious Freedom, ,

Last year Family Council cast a vision for networking with churches and helping them be salt and light in Arkansas’ political process.

Family Council hired Dr. Jim Lagrone to spearhead our Church Ambassador Network. Jim is the former president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, and he has been in ministry for over 40 years. Jim also worked for several years as an independent contractor with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

The Church Ambassador Network’s purpose is not to turn preachers into lobbyists. Church Ambassador is a process that is nonpartisan — not bipartisan, but nonpartisan.

Church Ambassador is not a conservative political organization. It is a nonpartisan ministry.

This is a network that builds relationships between church leaders and our elected leaders regardless of their political leanings, and helps those leaders see the church as a vital resource. 

Email Jim@FamilyCouncil.org to learn more about this vital ministry, or if you are a church leader who wants to get involved, fill out the form below to join today.

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