LEARNS goes on trial again

Love it or hate it, the LEARNS Act is one of the most consequential laws passed in Arkansas in decades. Not surprisingly, people are suing to stop it.

The latest lawsuit to make news, this one in the U.S. District Court’s Eastern District of Arkansas, involves four plaintiffs suing the state and state officials. Attorney General Tim Griffin filed a motion to dismiss it in July. The plaintiffs responded last week in a brief where they argued why it shouldn’t be dismissed.

The LEARNS Act, as you probably know, is Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ overhaul of the state’s education system that she signed into law in 2023.

Its most controversial component is its “educational freedom accounts,” which allow families to pay for private and homeschooling costs by using state dollars that would have gone to the public school the student would have attended. Almost $7,000 per student is available for education-related expenses, which can range from private school tuition to homeschooling textbooks to extracurricular activities.

This is the first school year in which all Arkansas students are eligible. The families of more than 51,000 students have applied, compared with 14,000 last year. Public schools educated roughly 475,000 students last year.

Arkansas taxpayers will be spending about $277 million on educational freedom accounts this year, much of which will go to 128 private schools. According to the plaintiffs’ brief authored by attorney Richard Mays, about 80 percent of those schools are religious, while 28 of the 30 schools receiving the most LEARNS funds are as well.

The plaintiffs argue that providing public dollars to private schools violates the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause. It states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” They also argue the law violates the Arkansas Constitution, which states that “no man can … be compelled to … support any place of worship; or to maintain any ministry against his consent”; and that “no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment, denomination or mode of worship, above any other.”

In addition to the arguments about religion, the plaintiffs argue that the LEARNS Act violates the Equal Protection Clause in the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment. They say parents of disabled children will be required to waive their rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which include having an Individualized Education Program that provides them with needed resources.

The plaintiffs filed the brief in response to a a motion to dismiss the case filed by Attorney General Griffin’s office on July 28. The office wrote that the plaintiffs failed to establish standing, a legal term meaning a person has a right to sue because they have been harmed. Instead, they can only assert a “generalized grievance” against the act.

Griffin’s office further argued that LEARNS doesn’t violate the Establishment Clause because it is a neutral government program that provides aid to individuals who direct the aid to schools that can be affiliated with any religion or none.

As for the Equal Protection Clause argument, the attorney general’s office says that all families experience tradeoffs when they freely choose to enroll their children in private school.

This is not the only time LEARNS has been involved in a lawsuit. The same four plaintiffs have sued to stop the law in state court. The case is now before the Arkansas Supreme Court. Just last month, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the LEARNS Act’s prohibition against indoctrination and critical race theory. In 2023, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled in favor of LEARNS in a case that argued that legislators improperly passed the law using an emergency clause.

There’s no question that LEARNS’ use of public funds for private schools, both secular and religious, fundamentally transforms the state’s education system. The question becomes: Is it constitutional?

If it is, then a lot of other questions arise. How much will it cost, and can the state afford it? Will the number of students taking advantage of the program plateau somewhere about where it is now? If it keeps growing, what will happen to public schools? What kind of private schools will arise, and what can all schools learn from the best ones?

If courts deem it unconstitutional, what happens to all the families and private schools that have come to rely on it?

We’ll have to see what the courts say. More than one.

••• Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 21 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@ mac.com.