Arkansas leg of Linda McMahon's ‘Returning Education to the States' tour draws parent protests over education policies
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McMahon, joined by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Arkansas junior US Senator Tom Cotton, and state Education Secretary Jacob Oliva, toured Don R. Roberts Elementary School in Little Rock and the Saline County Career and Technical Campus in Benton. The visits are part of a 50-state initiative aimed at highlighting state-led education models and collecting insights from local communities.
Emphasis on state-led education policies
The Department of Education has described the tour as a national 'listening exercise,' with McMahon seeking to understand locally developed solutions, promote educational choice, and reduce federal involvement in schools. In line with President
's stated goal of transferring education control to states, the campaign emphasises decentralisation, school choice, and tailored learning pathways.
McMahon's remarks during the Arkansas visit included praise for technical training programmes that allow students to earn dual credits and enter the workforce directly.
Parents voice opposition to reforms
However, outside Roberts Elementary, a small group of parents voiced strong objections to both the tour and the state's broader policy agenda under the
LEARNS
(Literacy, Empowerment, Accountability, Readiness, Networking and School Safety)
Act of 2023.
The legislation introduced sweeping changes to Arkansas' K-12 education system, including the creation of the Educational Freedom Account programme, which provides state funding for approved education expenses such as private school tuition, and a raise in the minimum teacher salary to $50,000.
According to the
Arkansas Advocate
, Courtney Jackson, a parent of two, said families at the school were 'incredibly upset' when notified of McMahon's visit.
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'The parents of this school do not want her here,' Jackson said, adding that she did not want her children to feel she had stood by 'while public education was under attack.'
Criticism over choice of school visit
Another parent, Alison Metzler, told the
Arkansas Advocate
she kept her children home from school to avoid their being 'used as political pawns' during the visit. Metzler accused both Sanders and McMahon of undermining public education and criticised the choice of Roberts Elementary, describing it as 'the whitest affluent school in the Little Rock School District' and not representative of the challenges faced across the district.
While state officials underscored the expansion of the Educational Freedom Account programme to around 50,000 students this year, protestors questioned the impact of diverting funds towards private schooling and away from public institutions. The disagreement reflected broader national debates over vouchers, funding priorities, and the role of federal oversight in education.
Arkansas was among the first states on McMahon's tour, alongside Louisiana, with Tennessee as her next stop. As McMahon's tour continues, Arkansas's response highlights the competing visions for the future of US education: One that emphasises local autonomy and parental choice, and another that warns of weakening the public school system through redirected funding. The debate unfolding in Little Rock underscores the national conversation her 50-state initiative is likely to encounter in the months ahead.
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