Bill Filed to Provide Students With Equal Access to College and Career Readiness Assessments Like SAT, ACT Exams

Legislation, ,

A measure filed at the Arkansas Legislature on Tuesday would provide students in Arkansas with equal access to college and career readiness assessments like the SAT and ACT exams.

Organizations like College Board, National Merit Scholarship Corporation, and others are responsible for college and career readiness assessments. These tests are crucial for students who want to attend college or qualify for scholarships.

Most of these college and career readiness assessments are nationally-recognized, norm-referenced tests. Students typically take these exams outside of normal class hours at a school that has agreed to serve as a test site for the exam.

In many cases, the test site may be a school that the student does not attend.

H.B. 1428 by Rep. Cameron Cooper (R – Romance) and Sen. Matt McKee (R – Pearcy) ensures that public, private, and home schooled students have equal access to college and career readiness assessments offered at public schools in Arkansas.

Under H.B. 1428, a public school that serves as a test site for one of these college and career exams would not be able to use the student’s enrollment status as grounds for denying the student access to the test.

Testing organizations like College Board also provide recommendations for accommodating students who have physical disabilities or learning disabilities.

H.B. 1428 ensures that public schools that serve as a test site for one of these exams will provide accommodations as recommended by the testing organization if a student has a verifiable physical disability or learning disability.

H.B. 1428 is a good bill that will ensure students have equal access to college and career readiness assessments regardless of where they attend school and regardless of any disabilities that they may have.

You Can Read H.B. 1428 Here.

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

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Arkansas House Resolution Honors Home Schooling

Home School,
Above: Rep. Cooper is H.R. 1021’s lead sponsor.

A resolution filed in the Arkansas House of Representatives on Tuesday honors home schooling across the state.

H.R. 1021 by Reps. Cameron Cooper (R – Romance), Delia Haak (R – Siloam Springs), Wayne Long (R – Bradford), and Mindy McAlindon (R – Centerton) recognizes the fact that home schooling provides educational flexibility and benefits to more than 30,000 students in Arkansas.

The resolution also sets aside Tuesday, February 21, 2023, as Home School Day at the Arkansas State Capitol.

Family Council has always believed families deserve options when it comes to education. That’s one reason we support home schooling.

Home schooling is a great example of how giving families options can help their children flourish.

Family Council has supported home schooling for more than 25 years, because it empowers parents to give their son or their daughter the education that’s right for them. Home schooling in Arkansas has been incredibly successful as a result.

You Can Read H.R. 1021 Here.

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Three Bills Filed Addressing Income Tax Credits and Unborn Children in Arkansas

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Three different bills have been filed addressing income tax credits and unborn children in Arkansas.

H.B. 1398 by Rep. Les Eaves (R – Searcy) raises the state income tax credit for stillborn children.

Current law provides Arkansans with a $500 income tax credit for a stillborn child. H.B. 1398 increases that income tax credit from $500 to $1,500.

S.B. 261 by Sen. John Payton (R – Wilburn) and Rep. Delia Haak (R – Siloam Springs) is a very simple bill that lets a person claim an unborn child as a dependent for income tax credit purposes.

Changing how Arkansas’ tax code treats unborn children may not seem like much, but this type of legislation reinforces the fact that unborn children are living, human individuals under state law.

H.B. 1299 by Rep. Cameron Cooper (R – Romance) and Sen. Jim Dotson (R – Bentonville) creates a non-refundable income tax credit for contributions to pregnancy resource centers.

Pregnancy resource centers are good organizations that give women real options besides abortion.

Family Council strongly supports giving people a tax credit for donations to pregnancy resource centers. However, there are a couple of problems with the way H.B. 1299 is written.

H.B. 1299’s definition of “pregnancy resource center” excludes abortion providers, but the bill does not exclude organizations that affiliate with abortion providers.

That means that an affiliate of an abortion provider could try to qualify as a “pregnancy resource center” under this bill.

The way H.B. 1299 is written, a person could not claim a tax credit for donating to an abortion provider, but a person might be able to claim a tax credit for donating to an affiliate of an abortion provider if the affiliate could somehow prove that it offers pregnancy testing and other support for pregnant women.

A simple clarification in H.B. 1299’s language would make sure that affiliates of abortion providers are not eligible to participate in the measure’s tax credit program.

The bill also relies heavily on the Department of Human Services and the Department of Finance and Administration to facilitate the tax credit program.

H.B. 1299 could be simplified to create less bureaucracy and make sure the tax credit program works effectively.

Family Council has asked H.B. 1299’s sponsor to amend the bill to ensure that abortion affiliates won’t try to take advantage of the tax credit program and to create less government bureaucracy.

If these changes were made, Family Council would support H.B. 1299.

You can read H.B. 1398 raising the income tax credit for a stillborn child here.

You can read S.B. 261 letting a person claim an unborn child as a dependent for tax purposes here.

You can read H.B. 1299 creating a tax credit for contributions to pregnancy resource center here.

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

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