Education, government transparency measures fail to meet signature goal • Arkansas Advocate

Proponents of two proposed Arkansas constitutional amendments did not submit their petitions to the Secretary of State’s office on Friday, saying they fell short of the required number of signatures needed to make the November ballot.

Spokespersons for the amendments’ supporters said they intend to resubmit similar proposals in the 2026 election cycle and work to get the General Assembly to enact elements of the proposals into law in 2025.

For AR Kids, the coalition behind the Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment of 2024, gathered 69,968 signatures collected from 55 counties, spokesperson Bill Kopsky said at an afternoon press conference. While the group didn’t submit signatures, it did submit an affidavit with a county breakdown of where signatures were collected to the secretary of state.

Act 236 of 2023 required 90,704 signatures from at least 50 counties. Previously, signatures need only be collected from 15 of the state’s 75 counties. 

“Our runway was about two weeks short,” Kopsky said in a reference to the time constraint the all-volunteer signature campaign was under.

Arkansas Citizens for Transparency and the Arkansas Press Association announced in a joint statement shortly before the 5 p.m. deadline for submitting petitions that they didn’t have the required total number of signatures but had met the minimum signature qualification in 50 counties. The groups sought to place an initiated act to amend the state Freedom of Information Act on the November ballot as well as a constitutional amendment guaranteeing government transparency as a citizen’s right.

“We were closer on the act than the amendment,” said Andrew Bagley, press association president and publisher/editor of The Helena World.

Educational Rights Amendment

For AR Kids and its member groups remain committed to achieving the goals of the proposed amendment, Kopsky said.

 “Arkansas voters deserve a chance to vote on improving the future of all Arkansas kids,” he said.

The primary goal of the proposed amendment was to hold private schools that receive state funding to the same standards as public schools. The proposal stems from a new voucher program that provides taxpayer money for allowable educational expenses, such as private school tuition.

 The proposed measure also would have guaranteed voluntary universal access to pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds, after-school and summer programming, quality special education and assistance for children in families within 200% of the Federal Poverty Line ($62,400 for a family of four).

“Lawmakers have the power to fund proven strategies like pre-K, after-school summer programs, finally doing something to improve our special education system and giving low-income children more support,” Kopsky said. “We believe everything in our proposal is a right.”

Steve Grappe of Stand Up Arkansas, one of the For AR Kids coalition members, said the group spent a lot of time seeking signatures in rural counties “because they’re disproportionately impacted” by the tax funds being funneled to private schools under the LEARNS Act.

“They’re feeling the heat,” he said, noting that parents in urban areas have lots of choices for educating their children while those in rural counties have only public schools.

Grappe noted that volunteers had collected signatures of support from 40% of the voters who voted in the 2020 presidential election, much higher than the required percentage.

Other members of the coalition include the Arkansas Education Association (AEA), Arkansas Conference of the NAACP, the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, The Arkansas Retired Teachers Association and Citizens First Congress (CFC).

AEA President April Reisma thanked the volunteers who endured hot weather and “dishonest” opponents to gather signatures and thanked the citizens who “bravely signed” the petitions.

“We didn’t have outside money,” she said, referring to two groups opposed to the amendment proposal that amassed hundreds of thousands of dollars from wealthy donors, some of whom are not from Arkansas.

For AR Kids relied on 1,200 volunteers, not paid canvassers, Kopsky said.

“I have immense gratitude for each and every one of them and everything they sacrificed,” he said.

The measure faced opposition from Arkansans for Students and Educators and Stronger Arkansas, two ballot question committees with close ties to the governor. Additionally, the measure was opposed by Family Council Action Committee 2024, which like Stronger Arkansas also opposes the proposed abortion and medical marijuana amendments.

Arkansans for Students and Educators and Stronger Arkansas have received a total of $986,000 and $375,000, respectively, in campaign contributions, according to June financial disclosure documents. Meanwhile, For AR Kids received a total of $8,217 from donors.

Arkansans for Students and Educators issued a statement Friday saying that Arkansans have once again “rejected the status quo of the education establishment that has kept us at the bottom for decades. …[T]he message being sent is crystal clear: Arkansans are demanding bold change for our education system — one that empowers parents, puts students first, and starts to pay teachers what they deserve.”

A key component of the LEARNS Act was establishing a $50,000 minimum salary for Arkansas teachers.

Elaine Williams, a For AR Kids volunteer from Prescott, told supporters during the press conference:

“We did not lose. We just didn’t have the total. I say that because people believe in what we were trying to do and what we are yet going to do.”

Government transparency

Nate Bell, a former state legislator and chair of the Arkansas Citizens for Transparency ballot question committee, said the group will continue to work for open government.

“An open and transparent government is essential for the future of our democratic institutions because a citizenry without independent information will be unable to make informed judgments about the quality of government they are being provided,” he said. 

“Unfortunately, rules have been set that are very arduous and costly and we have learned a lot from this experience that will be valuable in the future,” Bell said in a reference to the higher signature threshold and number of counties required by Act 236 of 2023.

A lawsuit filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court last year argues the requirement makes it harder for citizen-led petitions to qualify for the ballot. A judge heard arguments in the case in February, but has not yet issued a ruling.

Ashley Wimberley, the press association director, said deciding not to submit the petitions was difficult but was made “in order to save the dedicated staff in the Secretary of State’s office unnecessary work.”

In a joint statement with ACT, Wimberley expressed gratitude for the campaign’s volunteers and those who donated funds toward the effort.

 “We were short on time. This is a hurdle not an end. This has been an educational process, and we are hopeful that the same is true for our legislators who represent the people who believe in this across the state,” the statement said.

Bagley, installed as the APA president a week ago, served on the Arkansans for a Free Press ballot committee, said: “Polling shows that open government is immensely popular, and it is essential whether it’s at the Capitol or the local level.”

He said the association looks forward to working with lawmakers in next year’s session “to preserve the people’s right to know.”

Arkansans for a Free Press will continue organizing and will file an updated proposal to try to qualify for the 2026 election, he said.

“I still have hope and believe that we share the concerns of a majority of Arkansans.  We cannot allow Winthrop Rockefeller’s legacy to be erased,” he said, referring to the Arkansas governor in whose term the state Freedom of Information Act became law in 1967.

Other unsuccessful measures

Restore Election Integrity Arkansas, a ballot question committee supporting the Absentee Voting Amendment of 2024, did not submit petitions on Friday.

The proposed constitutional amendment would have limited absentee voting to people who can prove their inability to vote in person. It would have allowed absentee ballots to be distributed within 30 days of election day only to registered voters who are unable to be present at the polls on election day because they are absent from the county where they’re registered to vote, or are hospitalized, incarcerated or in a long-term care facility. 

Restore Election Integrity Arkansas also had proposed a separate measure to require Arkansas elections be conducted with hand-marked, hand-counted paper ballots, but it was rejected by the attorney general. 

The Arkansas Supreme Court in May dismissed a lawsuit that asked the high court to independently certify the legal sufficiency of the measures’ ballot titles and popular names and order them placed on the ballot. 

Pine Bluff resident Dave Dinwiddie did not submit petitions Friday for his initiated act to lower the age requirement from 45 years to 25 years for antique vehicle tags because he did not collect a sufficient number of signatures.

Dinwiddie told the Advocate earlier this week that he collected fewer than 100 signatures of the required 72,563. He said he plans to raise money over the next few years and try again to lower the age requirement for antique tags in 2026.

Antoinette Grajeda, Mary Hennigan and Tess Vrbin contributed to this report.