It's National School Choice Week, and students, families, and schools across the country are celebrating the wide variety of educational options available to kids. This year's school-choice celebration is particularly meaningful in Arkansas, where hundreds more K-12 private-school scholarships are available thanks to a new state scholarship program--a program that almost did not exist at all.
This month marks the historic launch of the new Philanthropic Investment in Arkansas Kids (PIAK) Program. Enacted in 2021 after major advocacy efforts by ACE Scholarships, a nonprofit K-12 scholarship-granting organization, and a coalition of state and national partners who have been pursuing expanded choice in the state for many years, this program will provide hope to hundreds more disadvantaged Arkansas students looking for new educational opportunities.
The PIAK program provides 100 percent state income-tax credits to Arkansas taxpayers and businesses who donate to nonprofit scholarship-granting organizations like ACE. These donations are then used to fund K-12 private school scholarships for economically disadvantaged students. Scholarships may be used at any qualified partner private school in Arkansas.
To be eligible for scholarships, students must:
• Come from families with incomes less than or equal to 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, or approximately $53,000 for a family of four; and
• Have attended a public school in Arkansas in the previous school year or be enrolling in school for the first time (i.e., entering kindergarten or moving to Arkansas from out of state); or
• Already be attending a private school in Arkansas after moving to the state, but not for more than half of the previous school year.
Each scholarship may be worth up to approximately $5,900 for students in grades K-8, and $6,600 for high school students. The value of individual scholarships may vary due to the availability of funding, level of financial need, and other factors. But in all cases, these scholarships will provide substantial aid to families who otherwise could not afford to move their children into private schools.
Capped at $2 million per year for now, participating scholarship organizations expect the PIAK program to serve between 300 and 500 students starting next fall.
In a time of historic educational challenges for students, families, and educators alike, it is difficult to overstate how much these scholarships will mean to the students who need them. Yet, the program almost did not exist.
Rep. Ken Bragg (R-Sheridan), Rep. Brian Evans (R-Cabot), and Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe) led the initial charge with House Bill 1371 during Arkansas' 2021 legislative session. That bill would have created a $4 million education savings account program that allowed families to use funds for a variety of education services and materials, including private school tuition.
HB1371 failed 44-52 on the House floor. With just a few weeks left in the legislative session, Senator Dismang drafted and introduced Senate Bill 680, which created a smaller program focused exclusively on providing tuition assistance.
The shorter, simpler bill ultimately succeeded, clearing the Senate 25-6 and going on to clear the House in a heart-stopping 52-40 vote following impassioned speeches in favor by Representative Bragg, Rep. Keith Brooks, and others. Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed the bill into law in a small ceremony that included scholarship families and advocates shortly thereafter.
The road to passing SB680 was a long one. But this National School Choice Week, Arkansans have an opportunity to celebrate the efforts of these legislators (and many others who helped along the way); efforts that led to better, brighter opportunities for hundreds of Arkansas students beginning next school year.
National School Choice Week runs from Jan. 23 through Jan. 29. It will be a week--and a year--to remember for a long time to come in Arkansas. This is just the beginning.
Hannah Reber is director of ACE Scholarships Arkansas, which currently serves more than 600 Arkansas students.