Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order Thursday that aims to cut red tape for Arkansas schools applying for federal aid.
The order calls for the state Department of Education to implement a “unified system that streamlines applications for all state and federal funding programs” for the 2024-2025 budget cycle. The order calls for a “unified application” for education funding that Sanders said will make the grant application process more efficient.
[DOCUMENT: Text of the executive order » arkansasonline.com/119eo]
Before the unified application is launched, however, the order calls for the Arkansas secretary of education to “conduct a review to identify out-of-date, unnecessary, or otherwise burdensome state laws, regulations, reporting requirements, and processes,” and to recommend changes to reduce bureaucracy.
The state's education secretary has also been tasked with creating a system whereby school districts can submit feedback to the state Education Department on what “overburdensome and redundant” state laws and regulations should be changed.