News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Higher education bill receives initial approval from Arkansas lawmakers

Published

2 months ago

March 11, 2025

Staff Editor

arkansasadvocate.com – Antoinette Grajeda – 2025-03-11 01:00:00

Higher education bill receives initial approval from Arkansas lawmakers

by Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate
March 11, 2025

Arkansas lawmakers on Monday advanced legislation that would overhaul the state’s higher education system by making changes to its funding model, scholarships, course credits and the admissions process, among other things.

The Joint Education Committee debated Arkansas ACCESS for more than five hours Monday. The legislation was filed as two identical bills in the House and Senate last month.

While lawmakers voiced support for initiatives such as doubling the first-year Arkansas Academic Challenge award from $1,000 to $2,000, there was bipartisan pushback on other provisions, most notably a prohibition on granting excused absences to public school students who participate in political protests or attempts to influence legislation or other governmental policymaking.

Committee members said they were concerned this would take away local control and educational opportunities. Rep. DeAnn Vaught, R-Horatio, said she was worried this would prevent students, like one that helped her present a Holocaust-related bill in committee in 2021, from participating in the lawmaking process.

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Senate sponsor Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, said students aren’t banned from participating in such events, it would just be noted as an unexcused absence. Vaught said that could negatively impact their education because generally students aren’t allowed to make up work they missed without an unexcused absence.

House sponsor Rep. Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, said student protests have been an issue across the country, and the provision places an emphasis on going to school to learn.

“They are there to get an education, and they’re not there to have a teacher push them into some type of advocacy or political protest or in some type of attempt to influence legislation,” Shepherd said. “Again, the concern is that who decides what is appropriate for that student to advocate for or not? I think we’re doing our school districts a favor by including this because students are there to learn.”

Little Rock Central High School student Ava Kate White said she opted to miss school to testify against Arkansas ACCESS Monday because it may be her last opportunity to do so and not be labeled truant.

The “aspiring journalist” argued the 123-page bill “further suppresses the voices of the youth” and would pave the way for more harmful laws. She urged lawmakers to look at the statue of the Little Rock Nine on the Capitol grounds as they considered the impacts of the proposed legislation.

“They did not make history by letting themselves be silenced,” White said. “They did not make lasting impacts on the world by giving up when they were denied their rights. These nine brave individuals changed society before they were even of age to vote.”

Democratic Party of Arkansas Chair Grant Tennille speaks in opposition to Arkansas ACCESS at a press conference outside the state Capitol on March 10, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

When the committee meeting resumed late Monday afternoon following a midday recess, the bills’ sponsors presented an amendment that still prohibits excused absences for political protests, but permits public schools to allow excused absences for social or public policy advocacy or attempts to influence legislation or other governmental policymaking with written parental consent.

School districts would be required to provide an annual report by June 30 to the education department that includes absences requested and granted, and purposes for the absences.

The Joint Education Committee adopted the amendment, which members of the public noted did not amend the section of the legislation that would still prohibit these excused absences for college students at state-supported institutions of higher education.

The committee also adopted another amendment that would allow a new scholarship program for concurrent credit courses to apply to virtual courses. Republican lawmakers voiced concern that the original proposal to restrict funds to in-person instruction would negatively affect rural schools that often rely on virtual instruction.

Dismang said he shared those concerns, but said the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of in-person learning. The bills’ sponsors said the issue was brought to their attention over the weekend, which is why they had an amendment ready to present Monday morning.

Stakeholder voices

Arkansas ACCESS would also change the composition and size of a variety of boards and committees. In response to questions by lawmakers about why groups like the Arkansas Education Association and the Rural Ed Association were removed from their positions on various boards, Dismang said the bill eliminates “without bias” entities that were not statutorily created. The bill allows for the appointment of other stakeholders not specifically identified in legislation, he said, so adding these groups could be included that way.

Bills flesh out Arkansas governor’s higher-education overhaul proposal

Sen. Reginald Murdock, D-Marianna, who said Arkansas ACCESS is a “real-life example” of why inclusion and diversity are necessary in conversations, asked if anyone from the Legislature’s minority party was involved in the development of the bill before it was filed.

“As a legislator, I had discussions with a number of individuals, primarily related to higher education [with] differing backgrounds,” Shepherd said. “I don’t know what their political affiliations may have been. You may not like the answer…”

“No, no, you’re gaming me, [Rep.] Shepherd,” Murdock said. “That’s not right what you’re doing now. No, we ain’t going to do that.”

The exchange prompted cheers and applause from the crowd, which committee chairman Rep. Keith Brooks, R-Little Rock, said could not continue.

Most Republicans probably didn’t see the bill until it was filed last month, Shepherd said, but since then, conversations have continued and input has been asked for.

“And then we came back and filed an amendment to it,” he said. “You may not like the answer, you may not like the answer, but the fact is that we took a lot of time and effort. You may not like what’s in the bill, but don’t demean the process and don’t demean us as far as the work that we do.”

Part of the bill that some have raised concerns about is a section focused on “rejecting discrimination and indoctrination in postsecondary education.” Daisy Onoriobe, a Philander Smith University student who attended a press conference opposing Arkansas ACCESS outside the Capitol Monday, said it’s “extremely unclear” how the bill’s provision will affect Arkansas colleges.

“How does this affect student organizations, scholarships and support centers for women,” Onoriobe asked. “Can staff tell students to stop making racist comments? How does this affect hiring diverse liaisons for colleges? Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are not a problem. They’re good for Arkansas.”

Inside the committee room, Rep. Diana Gonzales Worthen, D-Springdale, said she’s heard concerns from higher ed employees who are also worried about the bill’s DEI language.

“I think it’s unintentional, but I think it’s having a chilling effect,” she said.

Shepherd said he didn’t think the bill would have that effect, noting that the bill’s specific reference to DEI concerns the accreditation process, a section that Shepherd said was amended at institutions’ request.

“We’re not trying to chill the discussion of legitimate topics within the curriculum of a class,” he said. “…We’re trying to provide those protections and also we tried to give a lot of thought to make sure that this language applies even-handedly across the board, regardless of what may be the viewpoint of the day or what may be the political whims at that point in time.”

Both bills, which were voted on separately by members of the House and Senate, passed on split voice votes.

Reporter Tess Vrbin contributed to this story.

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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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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

REAL ID requirements among policies difficult for transgender, nonbinary Arkansans to navigate

Published

22 hours ago

April 30, 2025

Staff Editor

arkansasadvocate.com – Tess Vrbin – 2025-04-30 05:15:00

by Tess Vrbin, Arkansas Advocate
April 30, 2025

Gender-nonconforming Arkansans might not meet the state’s requirements to obtain a REAL ID in order to board flights or enter certain federal buildings, which is a week away from being required by federal law.

Applicants for REAL IDs need to provide the Department of Finance and Administration with four different forms of identification:

A current driver’s license, state-issued ID, or school or work ID as proof of identityA passport or birth certificate as proof of legal presence in the United StatesA government-issued social security cardTwo documents providing proof of address, such as utility bills or bank statements, issued within the last six months

The documents “all have to sync up,” Finance Secretary Jim Hudson said last week.

Transgender and nonbinary Arkansans might have changed their names or gender information on some but not all legal documents, and state policies have made it difficult for these groups of people to obtain documents that accurately reflect who they are, advocates say. Birth certificates can be legally altered, and until this year, the federal government allowed gender-neutral information on U.S. passports.

“The government has played politics with people’s lives and upended people’s ability to accurately and properly identify themselves,” said Holly Dickson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas. “This has created much chaos and turmoil for no good reason while making life harder and more unsafe for all of us.”

Last year, the ACLU of Arkansas led a lawsuit against the DFA’s decision to stop issuing gender-neutral driver’s licenses. The case was dropped after Arkansas officials permanently adopted the new policy, which prohibits the use of an “X” to indicate someone’s gender in place of “M” or “F.”

Arkansans urge state finance department not to reverse gender-neutral driver’s license policy

Several transgender and nonbinary Arkansans, including Maggs Gallup of Little Rock, urged the finance department to maintain the previous policy, which had been in place for 14 years. Gallup said in an interview Monday that they are putting off obtaining a REAL ID in case doing so requires the state to remove the X gender marker from their driver’s license.

Hudson told lawmakers that a driver’s license is “not a platform for speech” and “not a platform for personal identity.” Gallup disagreed, saying their gender-neutral ID is important to them and putting incorrect information on an ID is “a deeply incongruent thing to do.”

“In an ideal world, it would be great to have the state and officials recognize our gender,” Gallup said. “They don’t get to determine who we are, no matter what letters we put on our IDs.”

REAL IDs began with a law passed by Congress in 2005 as a response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Instituting REAL IDs statewide “will help fight terrorism and reduce identity fraud,” according to the finance department website.

The federal Transportation Security Administration accepts passports in place of REAL IDs as identification to board a flight. Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a well-known transgender advocate who lives in Little Rock, said last week on Facebook that she was initially denied access to a flight because she has an X on her driver’s license, but she was allowed to board after displaying her passport containing a male gender marker.

Griffin-Gracy is 78 years old and gender-nonconforming, and she was present at the 1969 Stonewall riot between LGBTQ+ people and police in New York City. In her Facebook video, she expressed disbelief that her passport was accepted even though she did not appear masculine. She also said “we the people” should “stand up and fight” President Donald Trump’s administration, which does not recognize gender-neutral IDs.

Gallup said they are also concerned about potential limits on travel, both domestic and international, with or without a REAL ID. Their teenage child is old enough to learn to drive but is putting off obtaining a learner’s permit because of potential bureaucratic obstacles due to their gender-nonconforming identity, Gallup said.

Bill regulating transgender Arkansans’ bathroom use heads to House despite public pushback

“This is just one part of a larger, really complicated network of new rules and legislation that are challenging to navigate” for transgender and nonbinary Arkansans, Gallup said.

State lawmakers and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders approved a law this month that will allow Arkansans to sue for damages if they encounter someone in a bathroom, changing room, shelter or correctional facility who does not align with the “designated sex” of the space.

The state has also enacted laws in the past few years that ban transgender girls from playing girls’ sports, require public school students to use bathrooms that match their gender assigned at birth, regulate pronoun use in schools and allow doctors who provide transgender minors’ health care to be sued for medical malpractice.

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The post REAL ID requirements among policies difficult for transgender, nonbinary Arkansans to navigate appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

The article appears to adopt a Center-Left perspective primarily through its focus on issues affecting transgender and nonbinary individuals, particularly with regard to identity documentation requirements in Arkansas. It emphasizes the challenges faced by gender-nonconforming individuals in obtaining accurate identification and highlights criticisms from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) regarding the state’s policy changes. The language used is sympathetic toward these groups, portraying the state’s actions as creating unnecessary turmoil and being politically motivated. Although the article provides factual information about the REAL ID process and relevant legal actions, its framing leans toward advocacy for the rights of transgender individuals, positioning the state’s policies in a critical light. This reflects a broader pattern of liberal advocacy for gender inclusivity in government identification practices. However, the piece does offer direct quotes from state officials, which helps balance the presentation of opposing views. Thus, the overall tone remains more supportive of progressive policies on gender identification, hence the Center-Left categorization.

News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Arkansas Army vet uses experience to help other veterans

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1 day ago

April 29, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – THV11 – 2025-04-29 20:03:22

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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Latest updates on Conway park shooting

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www.youtube.com – THV11 – 2025-04-29 07:43:35

SUMMARY: Two suspects remain on the run after the Conway Park shooting, while two others are in custody. One of the arrested suspects, Ryan Goens, was free on bond for a previous gun charge at the time of the shooting. He had posted a $75,000 bond for an alleged February gun crime, including possession of a machine gun, and was scheduled for a hearing the same week as the shooting, but it was postponed. This case has raised concerns about the state’s bail system and balancing public safety with the presumption of innocence. Goens faces 11 counts of aggravated assault.