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Arkansas religious rights bill augurs more than just a clarifying guide

Published

3 weeks ago

February 27, 2025

Staff Editor

arkansasadvocate.com – Sonny Albarado – 2025-02-27 01:30:00

Arkansas religious rights bill augurs more than just a clarifying guide

by Sonny Albarado, Arkansas Advocate
February 27, 2025

Sen. Alan Clark told his colleagues Tuesday he was initially skeptical about Senate Bill 223, which would “Create the Religious Rights at Public Schools Act.”

I too was skeptical. But unlike the Republican senator from Lonsdale, who ultimately voted for the bill, I remain skeptical.

The legislation would require public school districts and open charter schools to distribute at the beginning of each school year a copy of the act alerting students, parents and staff that they have “broad religious freedom” under the U.S. Constitution and First Amendment case law under the U.S. Supreme Court.

Among the rights the bill spells out are the ability to pray silently or out loud, individually or in groups and through other activities permitted to other groups by the school, including forming clubs. Also enumerated in the bill is the right to “display, print, recite or discuss religious texts and religious beliefs” when a student has the discretion to choose a topic or person of interest.

The bill further makes clear that students and staff can “give a Bible or other religious text to any other person at the school.”

Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Ferndale (Arkansas Secretary of State)

Bill sponsor Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Ferndale, assured his fellow senators that the legislation merely serves as a guide “to clarify religious rights at public schools” and doesn’t introduce any new rights.

Republican Sen. Breanne Davis of Russellville echoed Johnson, saying the bill is “solidifying what’s already law.”

“Students, parents and staff want to know what their religious freedoms are. There are situations … where teachers are fired, students get in trouble, and it’s because people do not know where these things are in law. … Nobody knows what their rights are,” Davis said.

If people don’t know what their rights are, it could be because schools aren’t teaching civics. But I suspect what’s going on here is that certain religious sects want free rein to inject their particular brand of religion into public schools.

Despite the senators’ assurances that the bill is innocuous and not insidious, I remain concerned that if the bill becomes law, certain deeply religious people will use it to browbeat students and teachers into accepting their version of Christianity as the one true religion.

And like Democratic Sen. Stephanie Flowers of Pine Bluff, I see the bill as potentially disruptive to public education and public schools.

In speaking against the bill, Flowers delivered a disquisition on Article 14 and Amendment 53 of the Arkansas Constitution, which promise the state will “ever maintain a general, suitable and efficient system of free public schools.”

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“It’s a bill that lends itself to indoctrinating young vulnerable, impressionable children,” she said. “When I talk about the possibility of indoctrination, I’m concerned about these documents of historical significance that are of a religious nature.”

She cited as an example a 1956 publication, Arkansas Faith, published by the White Citizens Council of Arkansas, noting that the subscription form declares subscribers to be white Christians who will oppose integration by any legal means necessary.

Flowers also said she didn’t think the bill was appropriate for public schools.

“It emboldens us to have religious rights outweigh and overpower our educational rights for our children.”

Sen. Stephanie Flowers (right), D-Pine Bluff, speaks against Senate Bill 223, sponsored by Sen. Mark Johnson (left), R-Ferndale, on the Senate floor on Tuesday, February 25, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

Johnson disagreed with Flowers, saying, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” The bill “simply affirms existing religious rights. It’s not attacking anyone’s beliefs or establishing any beliefs.”

Republican Sen. Missy Irvin of Mountain View described herself as a deeply Christian person, but opposed the bill.

Irvin remembered being told by a fellow fifth-grader in her Catholic school that her parents weren’t going to heaven because “it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven.”

“That deeply offended me,” she said.

“Growing up Catholic, do you know how many times I was told I was going to hell because we were baptized as babies? From people that went to Baptist churches?” Irvin asked.

“I’m sorry but I just don’t think you bring people to Christ by beating them over the head with a Bible. I don’t think that’s right.”

She also described the bill as unnecessary: “You can do this already.” Her four children, who attend public schools, “pray all the time,” she said. “They carry Bibles in their backpacks. … This is not a problem, and it should not be in this law.”

While SB 223 carefully notes that “other religious texts” can be studied or read and shared in schools as well as the Bible, the language of the bill is clearly Christian-centric.

Johnson maintained that the legislation stays true to the First Amendment and is inclusive of all faiths.

“The First Amendment is messy,” Clark said. “We are a messy country. … Sometimes we don’t just disagree, we really disagree.

“I am very against the establishment of religion. [But] saying you can pray and this is what you will pray are two very different things.”

Clark is right about that, but SB 223 leaves too much room for someone in authority to tell students and teachers what they must pray.

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Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

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Arkansas lawmakers send higher education bill to governor’s desk

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1 day ago

March 18, 2025

Staff Editor

arkansasadvocate.com – Antoinette Grajeda – 2025-03-18 00:05:00

Arkansas lawmakers send higher education bill to governor’s desk

by Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate
March 18, 2025

Legislation that would overhaul the state’s higher education system awaits the governor’s signature following the approval of identical bills by the Arkansas Legislature on Monday.

Arkansas ACCESS, a legislative priority for Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, would make changes to the state’s funding model, scholarships, course credits and the admissions process, among other things.

Rep. Brian Evans (Arkansas Secretary of State)

After Republicans Sen. Jonathan Dismang of Searcy and Rep. Matthew Shepherd of El Dorado filed Senate Bill 246 and House Bill 1512 last month, the legislation continued to be “a work-in-progress” for weeks, House Speaker Rep. Brian Evans, R-Cabot, told the Advocate Monday.

“We had a lot of input from stakeholders, both from higher ed to the public, and feel like the end result is a very good compromise piece of legislation,” Evans said. “It looks like the support in both the House and the Senate has been very strong. There’s even been some bipartisan support on that, so we appreciated that understanding.”

Speaking from the House floor Thursday, Rep. Lincoln Barnett, D-Hughes, said even though he appreciated parts of Arkansas ACCESS, the legislation should have been run separately instead of a large 123-page bill, which allows lawmakers “to sneak in the bad along with the good.”

Rep. Lincoln Barnett, D-Forrest City (Arkansas Secretary of State)

Arkansas ACCESS reduces the size and membership of a variety of boards and councils, and Barnett said he was particularly concerned about the removal of “critical stakeholders” from a council designed to close the achievement gap.

“This bill aims to erase and ignore continued realities of existing disparities when it comes to the field of education,” Barnett said. “…I am strongly opposed to this bill for the manner in which it was run. The process has been rushed. Input from others was sought on the back end rather than on the front end, and voices of our youth, our educators and key stakeholders have been ignored or at best, half-listened to.”

Several students voiced their displeasure during last week’s Joint Education Committee meeting over a prohibition on granting excused absences to public high school and college students who participate in political protests or attempts to influence legislation or other governmental policymaking.

As someone who visited the Legislature as a teenager, Evans said he understood the importance of involving youth in the process of the General Assembly. The implications of the bills’ original language “was an unintended consequence,” he said.

“I think there were some House members that felt like that may need to have been amended in order so that we could encourage and let it be a part of a field trip, let it be a part of coming and seeing the process of how legislation moves, special events, special interest topics…it would have just been an error in not allowing that, so I think it was good to get those discussions,” Evans said.

Higher education bill receives initial approval from Arkansas lawmakers

The committee did adopt an amendment presented by the bill’s sponsors that would allow high school students to be granted an excused absence for engaging in governmental policymaking with parental consent. School districts would also be required to submit an annual report to the state education department on the absences.

The amendment left the original prohibition intact for college students, who also could be found liable for property damage that occurs during a protest. Under the legislation, students would not receive their degree or credential, or have their credits transferred to another Arkansas school until they pay for the damaged property.

Additional provisions of the legislation include a focus on “accelerated learning” that will expand high school students’ access to courses beyond the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs. The legislation also has provisions aimed at supporting participation in concurrent credit courses that allow high school students to take courses for college credit.

As part of an effort to streamline participation in higher education, Arkansas ACCESS proposes creating a universal college application, a common-course numbering system among state institutions and a program that would establish provisional admission to students who meet basic standards.

Both the Arkansas House and Senate approved Arkansas ACCESS Monday without discussion.

Reporter Tess Vrbin contributed to this report.

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