Arkansas House Passes Bill to Protect Teachers Who Decline to Use Students’ Preferred Pronouns

Education,

On Monday the Arkansas House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill to help protect students and teachers who decline to use a person’s preferred pronouns at school.

H.B. 1468 by Rep. Wayne Long (R – Bradford) and Sen. Mark Johnson (R – Little Rock) says that a student or teacher cannot not be penalized for declining to address a person by a pronoun that is inconsistent with the person’s biological sex.

As we have reported before, educators in other states have been fired and suspended for declining to use students’ chosen pronouns.

H.B. 1468 would help prevent that from happening in Arkansas.

The bill now goes to the Arkansas Senate for consideration.

The Following Representatives Voted For H.B. 1468

  • Andrews
  • Barker
  • Beaty Jr.
  • Beck
  • Bentley
  • M. Berry
  • Breaux
  • K. Brown
  • M. Brown
  • Burkes
  • John Carr
  • Cavenaugh
  • C. Cooper
  • Cozart
  • Crawford
  • Duffield
  • Duke
  • Evans
  • C. Fite
  • L. Fite
  • Fortner
  • Furman
  • Gazaway
  • Gramlich
  • Haak
  • D. Hodges
  • G. Hodges
  • Hollowell
  • L. Johnson
  • Ladyman
  • Long
  • Lundstrum
  • Lynch
  • Maddox
  • McAlindon
  • McClure
  • McCollum
  • M. McElroy
  • McGrew
  • McNair
  • S. Meeks
  • Miller
  • Milligan
  • J. Moore
  • Painter
  • Pearce
  • Pilkington
  • Puryear
  • Ray
  • Richmond
  • Rose
  • Rye
  • R. Scott Richardson
  • Steimel
  • Tosh
  • Underwood
  • Unger
  • Vaught
  • Walker
  • Warren
  • Watson
  • Wing
  • Womack
  • Wooldridge
  • Wooten

The Following Representatives Voted Against H.B. 1468

  • Joey Carr
  • Clowney
  • A. Collins
  • Ennett
  • D. Ferguson
  • K. Ferguson
  • V. Flowers
  • D. Garner
  • Hudson
  • Magie
  • McCullough
  • Nicks
  • Perry
  • J. Richardson
  • Scott
  • T. Shephard
  • Springer
  • D. Whitaker

The Following Representatives Voted “Present”

  • Brooks
  • Gonzales
  • Hawk
  • B. McKenzie
  • Schulz

The Following Representatives Did Not Vote

  • Achor
  • F. Allen
  • S. Berry
  • Dalby
  • Eaves
  • Eubanks
  • Holcomb
  • Jean
  • J. Mayberry
  • K. Moore
  • Wardlaw
  • Speaker Shepherd

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House Education Committee Passes Bill Expanding Interscholastic Opportunities for Home Schoolers

Education, , ,

On Tuesday the House Education Committee passed a good bill expanding interscholastic opportunities for home schoolers.

S.B. 361 by Sen. Matt McKee (R – Pearcy) and Rep. Cameron Cooper (R – Romance) amends Arkansas’ “Tim Tebow” law that lets home schoolers participate in athletics and other interscholastic activities at their local public schools. The law is named after former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, who was able to play football as a home schooler thanks to a similar law in Florida.

S.B. 361 makes it easier for home schoolers to participate in an interscholastic activity in a neighboring school district if their local district doesn’t offer the activity.

It also clarifies requirements in the “Tebow” law about enrollment in public school classes and about the waiting period for students who want to play sports after withdrawing from a public school to start home schooling.

As we said when lawmakers passed it in 2013, the “Tim Tebow” law is about school choice.

It empowers families by providing children with interscholastic options as well as educational options.

Last summer Family Council obtained government data showing at least 463 home schooled students utilized the “Tim Tebow” law in 2021.

The “Tim Tebow” law is a good law that Family Council has been pleased to support over the years.

You Can Read S.B. 361 Here.

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

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LEARNS Act Could Provide Unprecedented Access to Education In Arkansas

Legislation, ,

Little Rock, Ark. — On Monday members of the Arkansas General Assembly filed S.B. 294, the LEARNS Act. The bill gradually implements a system of publicly funded accounts that Arkansas students can use to pay for things like tuition, curriculum, and other education expenses.

Family Council President Jerry Cox issued a statement, saying, “This voluntary school choice program could provide students in Arkansas with unprecedented access to education. Once the measure is fully implemented, Arkansas law would make it possible for students to receive a publicly-funded education at a public or private school or at home. Students who choose to attend a private school or who are educated at home under the current form of this bill would take a norm-referenced test or other assessment approved by the State Board of Education every year. The bill does not require students make a certain score on that test. I’m sure many families will appreciate that.”

Cox pointed out that S.B. 294 is an omnibus education bill. “A lot of us have focused on the school choice element of the bill, but the measure deals with critical race theory, teacher salaries, protecting elementary school children from inappropriate sexual material at school, and a lot of other important issues. That’s something to keep in mind as well.”

Cox noted that the bill utilizes the State Board of Education to establish the school choice program. “Much of what the LEARNS Act does is provide a framework that the State Board of Education and the Department of Education will use as it sets up the program between 2023 and 2025. The framework in the bill is good, and if the bill passes, we will know more details about how the program will work once the state board begins announcing plans to implement it. Hearings on the bill are currently underway. We are monitoring those hearings to see if amendments are added to the proposed legislation. We all want to make sure students get the best education possible, and we look forward to working with policymakers so that the LEARNS Act will help as many students in Arkansas as possible.”

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