Latest news with #JacobOliva
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nine Arkansas semifinalists named in 2025 Presidential Scholars Program
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The U.S. Department of Education has announced nine Arkansas-based students have been selected as semifinalists for the 2025 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. According to a letter to Arkansas Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva, the nine students selected as semifinalists come from a field of 621 students nationwide. The Arkansas students who were selected are: Taylor Matthew Conran – Farmington High School Nideaya E. Fassler – Russellville High School Xavier Christopher Herzig – Alma High School Scarlet Moore Hudgins – Elkins High School Prerana R. Kodakandla – Bentonville High School Siddhartha R. Milkuri – Bentonville High School Aubrey Scherer – Rogers Heritage High School Sylvia Ann Smith – Fayetteville High School East Campus Yahya Younus – Little Rock Central High School Department of Education officials said that the final selection will be made in the coming months for high school seniors who will be named as the 2025 U.S. Presidential Scholars, and the names will be announced by U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program has honored over 8,200 of the nation's top-performing students since its 1964 inception. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Education secretary to recommend increased support for east Arkansas school district
State Education Board member Randy Henderson (left) and Education Secretary Jacob Oliva (right) listen to public testimony during a state board meeting on Mar. 9, 2023. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate) Arkansas' education secretary notified the state education board Thursday of his intent to recommend a Level 5 – Intensive Support classification for the Blytheville School District due to ongoing academic and administrative challenges. Education Secretary Jacob Oliva said, with the board's support, he'd like to schedule a special board meeting in Blytheville in the next two to three weeks so they can hear from community members and formally recommend increasing the district's current Level 4 classification to the highest level of state support. 'This is a school district where there's opportunities for students and families to be very successful. There is no reason that this school district should continue to be the failure factory that it is,' Oliva said. 'And it's becoming more and more apparent the reason they're in the state they are is because they do lack governance and leadership.' The State Board of Education visited Blytheville in August after being alerted to concerns with the Northeast Arkansas district last July. The district has struggled with declining student enrollment over the last decade, according to Deputy Commissioner Stacy Smith, who provided an overview of Blytheville's situation to the board at its monthly meeting Thursday. The district has 1,260 students this year, about half of its 2014 enrollment. Students are struggling academically, according to last year's statewide testing scores, which showed more than half of students in English language arts and science and 76% of students in math scored in the lowest achievement level, Smith said. About half of Blytheville's teachers are unlicensed, but the education department has helped them all get on licensure pathways, she said. Arkansas Department of Education and Crowley's Ridge Education Service Cooperative staff have provided about 100 and 185 days, respectively, of onsite support and training, Smith said. There's been a 'dance of inconsistency' at the district, which was making progress but now appears to be backsliding, she said. While staff members seem receptive to making changes, Smith said there's dysfunction between the central office and the Blytheville School Board because 'we don't have the right people in either place.' Since 2018, the district has had two full-time superintendents and three interim superintendents. Jennifer Blankenship was appointed as the current interim superintendent on June 12, 2024. She also served in the interim role from July through December 2021. After the previous superintendent was officially terminated last August, the board reviewed candidates in late November and decided to keep Blankenship. A consulting firm hired in February presented two of 13 applicants in late April, but the board declined to interview them and reposted the position. 'Our biggest concern at this point is we are in May and we have no superintendent, and we have walked with this district for an entire year providing lots of support,' Smith said. Arkansas education board removes Lee County's fiscal distress status Though the board unanimously agreed to reject the superintendent candidates, Smith said there's a 'lack of coherence' and dysfunction within the board. 'When we were there before, much of the public comment in the meeting was about the dysfunction of the board, it wasn't about what was happening in the school,' she said. 'It was about this public image of the board.' State education board members expressed support for Oliva's request for the special meeting, including Blytheville native Randy Henderson who said he was 'very disappointed' in the situation. Fellow board member Jeff Wood cautioned his colleagues that upgrading Blytheville's classification to a Level 5 isn't something that should be taken lightly. 'Level 5 intervention rarely has the celebratory results that we're looking for on the backside of Level 5; it is not an answer in itself,' Wood said. 'There is still a long road of work ahead even after Level 5 consideration. I would hope for a strong plan, decisive plan, quick action plan because one thing I learned in the Level 5 I lived through is just the slow process of it didn't work.' Wood was appointed in 2016 to serve on the Little Rock School District's Community Advisory Board when ADE took over that district. When the district was returned to local control in November 2020, Wood was elected to serve on the district's new school board. The process of considering the classification change must begin with written notification to the Blytheville School District about the intent to recommend the Level 5 classification, Smith said. The district has the right to appeal and ask for a hearing, or the board can make the recommendation without a hearing, she said. If the classification is approved, the board can determine what sanctions go along with it, such as dissolving the local board or approving a state takeover of the district. Districts currently under the Level 5 classification are Earle, Lee County, Helena-West Helena and Marvell-Elaine. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arkansas education department sued for failure to make survey accessible to deaf, blind respondents
Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders examine the floor plan of the new Arkansas Schools for the Deaf, Blind and Visually Impaired during a groundbreaking ceremony on March 12, 2025. (Photo by Randall Lee for the Arkansas Governor's Office) A federal lawsuit filed Thursday alleges the Arkansas Department of Education violated federal law by failing to equip an online survey seeking input on the future of the state's deaf and blind schools with auxiliary aids. The plaintiff in the lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas Central Division, also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction ordering the defendants to cease construction of the schools' new campus, immediately republish the ADE survey with appropriate accessibility measures and include plaintiffs in ongoing 'stakeholder' meetings. The lawsuit comes a week after officials broke ground on a new combined campus for the Arkansas School for the Deaf and the Arkansas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Little Rock attorney Mike Laux, along with two attorneys from the National Association of the Deaf, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Arkansas Association of the Deaf. Education Secretary Jacob Oliva and members of the Arkansas State Board of Education are the named defendants in the case. According to the complaint, an online survey posted on ADE's Facebook page in late December 2023 sought feedback from stakeholders with connections to the Arkansas School for the Deaf and the Arkansas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Failure to ensure the survey was accessible to plaintiff's members resulted in 'limited responses and inadequate feedback from the target audience,' the complaint states. Not making the survey accessible by including American Sign Language (ASL) translations and audio descriptions and related auxiliary aids violates both the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, according to the lawsuit. This 'unlawful discrimination' denied plaintiff's members their right to civic participation, the suit says. 'Defendants' discriminatory conduct effectively silenced an entire community's voice in matters directly affecting their lives and education,' the complaint reads. 'Without immediate court intervention, Plaintiff's members will face barriers to meaningful engagement with the policymakers whose decisions affect their community.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The complaint asks the court to issue an order requiring defendants to publish an identical survey that's accessible; enjoin defendants from relying on the results of the original survey in policy decisions; legislative recommendations and administrative actions regarding the two schools; and declare any actions taken based on the inaccessible survey are deficient and must be reconsidered following the completion of an accessible survey. The state has a duty to communicate to all of its citizens, and excluding deaf and blind Arkansans from the ADE survey 'is even more egregious' because the issues being addressed in the survey directly pertain to this community, Laux said during a virtual press conference Thursday. 'And while we wish we could say that this was just an oversight, a harmless accidental oversight by the state, we fear that it is instead a designed tactic used to eliminate the voices of these folks who have a real stake in what happens, and instead to use these inaccurate, incomplete survey results to justify political maneuvering and decisions that had already been made and preordained,' he said. 'The survey was meant as a cover to lend legitimacy to maneuvers that the state was looking to engage in regardless of the survey.' Arkansas governor commits to improving facilities for deaf, blind students The poor conditions of the schools for deaf and blind students gained widespread attention following legislators' tour of the dilapidated facilities in late 2023. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in Feb. 2024 announced plans to create a new 'state-of-the-art facility' on the current campus and combine administrative functions. Sanders cited the survey, saying the responses revealed three priorities that would inform the project — keeping the campus at its current location, providing resources for deaf and blind students beyond the Little Rock campus and addressing critical safety needs. Lawmakers took steps Monday to combine the two schools by filing House Bill 1810. Nicole Walsh, who was named the School for the Deaf's superintendent last year, told the House Education Committee Thursday the merger is an 'administrative move so we can ensure cohesive services between the two schools.' While the committee advanced HB 1810 on a unanimous voice vote, the lawsuit argues the bill removes numerous protections and specific provisions related to the operation of the schools. For example, employees would no longer be compensated for providing parent training or student services on the weekend or the evenings, according to the lawsuit. The complaint also raises concerns about HB 1810's proposal to combine the schools' two boards of trustees into a single board consisting of five members appointed by the governor. 'The proposed bill eliminates the current statutory requirement that the board include one 'member … who is a 'deaf person who fluently utilizes deaf sign language'', and in so doing, effectively removes guaranteed deaf representation on the governing board,' the lawsuit states. HB 1810 sponsor Rep. Joey Carr, R-Armorel, told the House Education Committee the single board of directors will represent both the deaf and blind students, and they will each have a parental advocate. 'In unifying these schools it will create greater security for safety, also a more effective instructional support for their individual learning needs,' he said. In response to a request for comment on the lawsuit, an ADE spokesperson said the department doesn't comment on active lawsuits. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announces Education Freedom Accounts now available for every family in Arkansas
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – On Monday afternoon Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that for the first time in history, education freedom is available to all families in the Natural State. According to a release from the Governor, Education Freedom Account (EFA) applications for the 2025-2026 school year are now open to every child in the state. Demand for Education Freedom Accounts spikes as more Arkansas families become eligible for funds The release said that the EFA program was created by the LEARNS Act in 2023 and provides funding for students to attend the school that best meets their needs whether it be private, public, parochial or homeschool. 'There is an education freedom revolution sweeping America and Arkansas is proud to lead the way by offering universal education freedom for every single child in the state,' the governor said. 'The EFA program has been enormously successful over the past two years, helping thousands of Arkansas kids go to the school that meets their needs, and I look forward to thousands of others joining the program.' Little Rock Central High students stage walkout to protest against Arkansas LEARNS Act voucher system Arkansas Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva said that the EFA program assisted over 14,000 students for the 2024-25 school year and expressed excitement that all students now have access. 'We know that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't meet the needs of all students and families,' Oliva said. 'Families deserve the opportunity to choose the best school for their child, no matter their zip code, and through the EFA program, they have that opportunity. For the 2024-2025 school year, the EFA program assisted more than 14,200 students with finding their school of choice, and we are excited to expand that opportunity to all families for the next school year.' More than 20K school choice applications submitted in Arkansas in 2024 According to the governor, in Arkansas revealed that 72% of parents support universal education freedom. A total of 5,548 students and 97 schools participated in the EFA program during the 2023-2024 school year. In the 2024-2025 school year, participation increased to 14,297 students and 128 schools. To be eligible for an EFA, students must be eligible to enroll in a public school and be a resident of Arkansas. To apply, . Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arkansas lawmakers expected to file higher education bill Monday
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announces details of the Arkansas ACCESS bill on Feb. 14, 2025. Education Sec. Jacob Oliva stands at left. Rep. Matthew Shepherd and Sen. Jonathan Dismang are at right. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate) Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Friday that her anticipated higher education bill will address funding, diversity initiatives, admissions policies, scholarships and course credit. State lawmakers said they expect to file what will be a roughly 100-page bill Monday. Arkansas ACCESS — which stands for acceleration, common sense, cost, eligibility, scholarships and standardization — mirrors Sanders' strategy for making sweeping changes to K-12 education with one large bill in 2023 — the LEARNS Act. Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, and Rep. Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, are the lead sponsors of Arkansas ACCESS. New general revenue funds are not expected to be needed to support the bill's initiatives, but officials will repurpose existing funds within the department to fund some of the projects, Sanders said during a press conference at the Capitol. The goal of the legislation is to reduce the complexity in students' path to higher education, she said. 'Higher education should be available to anyone who wants it, right after high school or many years down the line, and ACCESS will make that a reality,' Sanders said. 'We will also get indoctrination out of higher education so students can learn in a free, unbiased setting.' Among the bill's 'common sense' initiatives are provisions to stop the use of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in accreditation standards, prohibit professors from 'indoctrinating students with forced statements in support of DEI,' prevent schools from granting excused absences to attend protests and require students who vandalize property to pay damages before they can earn a degree, according to a press release. A lawsuit challenging a section of the LEARNS Act banning indoctrination in K-12 schools resulted in a federal judge issuing a preliminary injunction last year. U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky wrote that teachers could discuss sensitive subjects, but could be disciplined if they compel students 'to adopt, affirm, or profess a belief in a theory, ideology or idea.' Compulsion requires speech or actions such as teachers threatening to grade students on the basis of whether they accept or reject a theory, Rudofsky said. Education Secretary Jacob Oliva echoed similar language at Friday's press conference, and said it's professors' jobs to engage in debate. 'You should argue multiple perspectives, multiple points of view. You should engage in critical thinking,' he said. 'That's what good teachers do. That's what good professors do.' Oliva has often said that high school students should have access to accelerated pathways. To that end, provisions in Arkansas ACCESS recommend standardizing weights for concurrent credit, and Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses, and broadening college-level coursework beyond AP and IB courses, according to the press release. Stakeholders are working to create a system that sets all Arkansans up for success, Oliva said. Because higher education isn't standardized and coordinated currently, 'we have unnecessary roadblocks and measures that discourage students and families from participating in prosperity, and we're going to remove that,' he said. To streamline the process and remove barriers, Arkansas ACCESS proposes expanding eligible admission exams, granting provisional admission to students who meet baseline admissions requirements, creating a statewide universal college application and offering in-state tuition to Arkansas military families. The bill would also standardize course numbers at all state-supported higher education institutions and increase the number of general education and career and technical education (CTE) courses in the Arkansas Course Transfer System. To address financial barriers, the legislation recommends expanding the Workforce Challenge Scholarship opportunities to serve more students, according to a press release. It also would establish a scholarship for Medal of Honor and Purple Heart recipients, doubling the first-year Arkansas Academic Challenge award from $1,000 to $2,000, and establishing a scholarship program for disabled students. Ultimately, the provisions of the bill are focused on students, Dismang said. 'We're going to be looking and increasing the opportunities that they have before them, and then we're going to be maximizing their outcomes so they can be as successful as they can possibly be,' he said. Arkansas ACCESS will start the process of amending the productivity funding model for higher education institutions. Officials will consider return-on-investment 'so that taxpayers are funding degrees that contribute to our state and to our economy,' Sanders said. Officials will also create a funding model for non-degree credentials, 'so that Arkansans can go to school for the skills they need, leave without too much debt and enter the workforce as soon as possible,' she said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
