LITTLE ROCK — Opponents of a legislative effort to fund a pilot private school voucher program in a central Arkansas county say the bill would "experiment" on primarily black children while not funding more traditional public school improvement methods.
Democratic State Sen. Joyce Elliott, who represents southwest Little Rock, said Monday that the Pulaski County program to provide up to $3.5 million for around 500 students to attend private schools is part of a faulty piecemeal effort to improve public schools that ultimately undermines them.
[RELATED: Complete Democrat-Gazette coverage of the Arkansas Legislature]
But Republican State Rep. Ken Bragg, who co-sponsored the bill, says the bill aims to provide options to students for whom public school is not the right fit but who might not be able to otherwise afford private schools.
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he backs the program.
Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.