The Arkansas LEARNS Act is the 2023 state law, officially Act 237, that rewrote most of the rules governing Arkansas public schools: it set a $50,000 minimum teacher salary, repealed longstanding teacher dismissal protections, created Education Freedom Accounts that families can spend on private school tuition and homeschool costs, required reading instruction grounded in the science of reading with third-grade retention for students who fall short, added a 75-hour community service graduation requirement, and gave the state new authority to hand struggling schools to outside operators.1Arkansas Department of Education. LEARNS Rulemaking Work Groups Signed on March 8, 2023, it is the broadest overhaul of K–12 education in Arkansas history, and most of its provisions are either already in effect or phasing in through the 2026–2027 school year.
What the LEARNS Act Changed for Teacher Pay
The headline change is the salary floor. Every classroom teacher in a public school district or open-enrollment charter school must now be paid at least $50,000 as a base salary.2Justia. Arkansas Code 6-17-2403 – Minimum Teacher Compensation The previous state minimum was around $36,000, so for a first-year teacher in a low-paying district, that is a raise of roughly $14,000.
Experienced teachers were not shut out. Any teacher whose 2022–2023 salary exceeded $48,000 was guaranteed a $2,000 raise, which also captured teachers earning between $48,001 and $50,000 and pushed them above the new minimum.3Arkansas Department of Education. FIN-23-041 – LEARNS Teacher Minimum Salary and Raise Fund
Separate from base pay, the Merit Teacher Incentive Fund Program pays annual bonuses of up to $10,000 to teachers who produce measurable student growth, mentor new teachers, or work in a shortage subject or geographic area. More than 4,200 Arkansas educators received the bonus for the 2024–2025 school year, compared with roughly 3,000 the prior year.4Arkansas Governor. Sanders Announces Merit Bonuses for More Than 4,200 Arkansas Teachers
Weaker Job Protections After the Fair Dismissal Repeal
The LEARNS Act repealed the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act. Before, a district had to show “just and reasonable cause” to fire or non-renew a teacher, and the teacher had a statutory right to a formal school board hearing with the chance to present evidence, bring a representative, and respond to the stated reasons.
That framework no longer exists. The Act also bars districts from using seniority or tenure as the primary basis for hiring, assignment, or dismissal decisions, and requires each district to update its reduction-in-force plan and submit it to the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.5Arkansas Department of Education. LEARNS Work Group – Human Resources School boards now have broad discretion over personnel decisions.
For an individual teacher, that changes where your rights come from. Without the Fair Dismissal Act, your protections depend on the terms of your individual employment contract and whatever grievance process your district has adopted locally, which varies. If you are worried about job security, read your contract rather than assuming the old hearing process still applies.
Education Freedom Accounts for Private School and Homeschool Families
The Act created the Education Freedom Account (EFA) program, which puts state education dollars into a restricted account families can spend on private school tuition, homeschool curriculum, tutoring, educational therapies, and other approved expenses.6Arkansas Department of Education. Education Freedom Accounts
How Much Money and Who Can Get It
Each participating student receives 90% of the prior year’s statewide per-student foundation funding.7Justia. Arkansas Code 6-18-2505 – Account Funds For 2025–2026, that is $6,864 per student, paid in quarterly installments of $1,716. Former Succeed Scholarship participants get 100% of foundation funding, or $7,627 per year, and keep that higher rate until they graduate or close the account.8Arkansas Department of Education. Education Freedom Accounts – Information for Families
The program is now universal. For the 2025–2026 school year, any Arkansas resident eligible to enroll in kindergarten through twelfth grade can apply. The deadline to apply or renew for a given school year is June 1.
A practical note on the dollar amount: average annual private school tuition in the United States ranges from about $9,000 to more than $30,000 depending on grade level and location, so the EFA will often cover only part of tuition. Plan the rest of your budget before you commit.
What the Money Can and Cannot Pay For
Funds move through a restricted digital platform and can be spent only on qualifying educational expenses. Spending on extracurriculars, physical education, and field trips (including related membership fees, uniforms, equipment, and musical instruments) is capped at 25% of the student’s total annual EFA.9Arkansas Department of Education. Arkansas Education Freedom Account Family Handbook 2025-26 Transportation to a participating school or provider is eligible at the state mileage rate. Account funds cannot be refunded, rebated, or paid out to a parent in any form, and refunds for returned goods must go back into the student’s account.7Justia. Arkansas Code 6-18-2505 – Account Funds The State Board can close an account for misuse.
What Private Schools Must Do to Accept EFA Students
Participating private schools must be accredited by the Arkansas Nonpublic School Accrediting Association or another body recognized by the State Board, or be actively applying. They must have operated for at least one year or show a CPA’s documentation of adequate insurance and capital, or post a surety bond equal to a quarter’s EFA receipts. All teachers must have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, all employees must be fingerprinted and background-checked, and the school must give EFA students an approved nationally norm-referenced literacy and math test each year and report aggregate results to the state.10Arkansas Department of Education. EFA Private School Handbook
New Reading Rules and Third-Grade Retention
The LEARNS Act requires reading instruction aligned with the science of reading. Teachers with K–6 elementary or K–12 special education licenses have to demonstrate proficiency in those methods, and all other teachers must show at least awareness of them.11Arkansas Department of Education. Science of Reading and Educator Preparation
Every public school must give a literacy and dyslexia screener to all students in kindergarten through third grade within the first 30 days of the school year. Arkansas uses the ATLAS screener.12Arkansas Department of Education. K-3 ATLAS Screener and K-2 Content Assessments
K–3 students who miss the state reading standard, are flagged as at-risk by the screener, or were retained in third grade qualify for a $1,500 Literacy Tutoring Grant. Money flows through a digital wallet directly to state-approved tutoring providers; parents cannot receive it as cash.13Arkansas Department of Education. Literacy Tutoring Grant Available for Eligible Students and Families
The piece parents of younger kids most need to know: starting at the end of the 2025–2026 school year, third graders who do not meet the state’s minimum reading benchmark will be held back rather than automatically promoted. The State Board sets the benchmark. Students who fall short but qualify for a good-cause exemption can still advance, and schools are expected to keep providing intensive support to those students.14Arkansas Department of Education. Third-Grade Promotion
Career Pathway Option and the 75-Hour Community Service Requirement
Beginning with the 2024–2025 ninth-grade class, public high school students can earn a diploma through a career-ready pathway that combines academic coursework with career and technical studies tied to high-wage, high-growth Arkansas jobs.15Justia. Arkansas Code 6-16-1801 – Career-Ready Pathways Description Students on this track can also pursue internships and apprenticeships while enrolled.16Arkansas Department of Education. LEARNS – Readiness
Community service is now mandatory to graduate. Starting with the 2026–2027 graduating class, every public high school student must complete at least 75 clock hours of documented community service between ninth and twelfth grade.17Arkansas Department of Education. Curriculum Support – Community Service Learning The per-year breakdown is 15 hours in ninth grade and 20 hours in each of the following three years. Transfer students and early graduates follow a prorated schedule: a student entering an Arkansas public school in eleventh grade, for example, needs 40 hours.18Arkansas Department of Education. Community Service Requirement for Graduation Guidance
Service can take place inside or outside Arkansas with district approval. Schools can set up endorsed sites and projects, students can propose their own with coordinator approval, and work-based service may be approved case by case. Each project must be documented, including preparation, actions taken, and reflection.
State Takeover of D and F Schools
Any public school rated “D” or “F” under the state system, or classified as needing Level 5 – Intensive Support, becomes eligible for a school transformation contract that can hand its operations to an approved open-enrollment charter operator or another entity vetted by the State Board.19Arkansas Department of Education. Rule Governing School Transformation Contracts
Operators have to clear a bar before they can take over. A charter governing body cannot have previously run a charter school whose charter expired, was revoked, or was surrendered. All charter schools it currently governs must have earned a “C” or higher rating for the three prior school years. And its most recent annual financial audit must be free of significant findings.
Each contract must set annual goals and performance targets covering academic outcomes, student growth on state assessments, and fiscal sustainability, with the stated aim of eventually returning the school to traditional public management.
School Safety Assessments
Every public school district and open-enrollment charter school must complete a comprehensive safety assessment at least once every three years, working with local law enforcement, fire, and emergency management officials. The assessment covers site and building exterior security, access control, interior security, monitoring and surveillance, communication and information security, emergency operation plans, and school climate and culture.20FindLaw. Arkansas Code 6-15-1303 – Safe Schools Initiative Act