Monday, Nov. 1, 2021
Making the Grade: Legislators Support Education
During the 2021 Arkansas legislative session, several bills focused on improving educational opportunities for students and increasing compensation for teachers. We graded legislators on how they voted on education-related legislation and are excited to announce that 67 legislators (about half) received A+ marks!

We commend these legislators for their dedication to ensuring the next generation has a solid educational foundation. We cannot wait to see what advancements are in store for Arkansas’ educational future next session! Click the button below to see the full report card.
Succeed Scholarship parents report seeing progress
In the 2021 Succeed Scholarship parent survey, satisfaction with academic progress made by their students at their SSP school is incredibly high.

In fact, 98.5% of parents said they were “somewhat” or “very” satisfied with the academic progress of their students at the private school funded through the Succeed Scholarship. In comparison, 18.6% of parents said they were “somewhat” or “very” satisfied with the academic progress of their students while they were in public school.

Similarly, 98.8% of parents were “somewhat” or “very” satisfied with how their SSP school addressed their child’s disability compared to only 19.1% who felt like the child’s disability was properly addressed at their designated public schools.

Click the button below to see the results from the past four years.
Are you interested in partnering with us to help improve education in Arkansas? Contact us at (501) 244-9028 or info@thereformalliance.org for more information on how you can make a difference with education reform.
Education Headlines
New and increased enrollment for charter schools means more options for students
The Arkansas Board of Education has approved four new open-enrollment charter schools in Fort Smith and in Pulaski County and increased enrollment caps for Graduate Arkansas and Driven Virtual Academy.

This gives more students access to specialized schooling (like the approved Military and First Responders Academy). It also gives families an option that would help reduce education disruptions due to the pandemic.
Image source: Education Next
How big was the year of educational choice?
With 18 states enacting seven new educational choice programs and expanding 21 existing ones, 2021 has rightly been declared a “breakthrough year” for school choice.
Educational Choice Glossary
When it comes to support for families seeking financial aid for K-12 education, there are a variety of types with overlapping characteristics.

Ed Choice does an incredible job of defining each of the forms of assistance, but the goal of each type of education choice program is to help families afford whichever school is the best fit for their children. 
Education Savings Accounts allow parents to withdraw their children from public district or charter schools and receive a deposit of public funds into government-authorized savings accounts with restricted, but multiple, uses.

Those funds — often distributed to families via debit card — can cover private school tuition and fees, online learning programs, private tutoring, community college costs, higher education expenses, and other approved customized learning services and materials.

Some ESAs, but not all, allow students to use their funds to pay for a combination of public school courses and private services.
Faces of Freedom
"... The Succeed Scholarship enables our family to give Arya that school environment that he needs, with a small class size, one-on-one tutoring, safe classrooms where he has never been bullied. He is part of an amazing school culture that cares about him, gives him space to belong as he is and supports him in every way possible. The financial strain of Arya’s occupational therapy, physical therapy, medical bills, and counseling for him made it so that we were extremely worried about not being able to afford private school going into Arya’s fourth grade year.

Because of Succeed, we are able to keep him enrolled, watch him thrive, make friends, read, write and smile! He even placed second in the 100 meter dash of his first ever regional track meet his school competed in. The difference of four years in the right environment has made him unrecognizable from his first days here. This chance at his school has renewed our hope for his future, as a citizen of his community and country, to become a person who gives back all that he has received. He has dreams now he shares with us and is hungry for knowledge about the world. Every day makes a difference for him!" - Alicia, parent (Click here to read Arya's full story.)

We are proud to administer the program for the state with 100% of all state funding going directly to scholarships. All administrative costs of managing the scholarship for the state is paid for through a private philanthropic grant. 
We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring every K-12 student in Arkansas has equal access to a world class education. Our mission is to create a network of parent and community leaders so every policy decision and every conversation about education starts and ends with how it impacts our kids.