Just over a year ago, on August 1, 2012, we launched Arkansas Learns, the private sector alliance of parents, employers and citizens dedicated to excellent education for all students to ensure the talent and workforce necessary for Arkansas to successfully compete in a global economy.

Finally, consumers would have a voice in the local and state governance of public education.

Why is this necessary? For decades, the now 238 local school boards in Arkansas and their respective superintendents have utilized two distinct third-party organizations (Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators – AAEA, Arkansas School Boards Association – ASBA) to lobby the Legislature and Administration on behalf of their members.

Add in the teachers’ union (Arkansas Education Association – AEA), and three private organizations – termed by some legislative leaders as education’s Iron Triangle – have long dominated local and state education policy in Arkansas.

Why do these third-party organizations utilize $8,648,978 in annual public and private revenue and 42 employees to advance their respective agendas (see details below)? Because PreK through 12 public education in Arkansas is a $5.3 billion dollar industry, accounting for 47% of all state general revenue and around 2/3 of local property taxes.

And what is the public’s return on that investment?

• One in five students don’t graduate;
• One of every two post-secondary students requires remediation; and
• We remain 49th in percentage of our people with a four-year degree.

And yet, when Arkansas Learns has the audacity to insist that we can and should do better, it is labelled by its powerful detractors as oppositional to traditional public schools. Here are the facts:

Local vs. State Leadership

In communities across Arkansas, the local school district is typically the largest local government entity, generally dwarfing respective city and county budgets. It is also among the largest employers, depositors and consumers.

Because it is a statewide organization, Arkansas Learns defers to the local business community leadership in regard to engagement with the local school district and its elected and employed leaders.

However, when those local districts join together to fund statewide lobbies which advocate for the collective interests of their members (incumbent school board members and hired administrators), local business communities, chambers of commerce, and economic development organizations must step up to support a statewide group of its own (Arkansas Learns) to advocate for the best interests of students.

The Challenge

While parents have flocked to Arkansas Learns, business support of its new organization has been guarded. Typical justifications for not joining include:

• My children were/are in private (or home) school, so I don’t speak publicly about public education.
• I do business with the school district(s), so I can’t be seen supporting an organization they oppose.
• I don’t want to do anything to upset our superintendent.

By all means, business should support its local school district when it performs, and help it even more when it doesn’t. But business should also understand, when local districts’ collective lobbyists place the interests of their members over the best interests of students, they must be countered by an effective, broad-based, private sector coalition.

Call to Action

Economic development is now driven by talent. Communities which can’t, don’t or won’t excellently educate all of their students will certainly fail.

While Arkansas Learns goes toe-to-toe with AAEA, ASBA and AEA on many issues, we are shoulder-to-shoulder in support of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

Further, we celebrate excellence throughout our traditional public school systems whenever and wherever it exists by fighting for rewards for high performing and achievement gap-narrowing students, teachers, schools and districts.

Ultimately, Arkansas Learns is an ends over means organization. We support what works and oppose what doesn’t.

If you’re an Arkansas employer, you must have an educated workforce in order to be successful. And that workforce requires excellence at every stage of the PreK through16 talent pipeline.

Arkansas’s incumbent school board members, administrators and union teachers are all in for their members with their time and treasure. It’s time business went all in for students.

No matter your level of support, join us at Arkansas Learns today. Because when Arkansas learns, Arkansas earns.

Special Interests

Here are the numbers on the aforementioned education lobbies:

501(c)4 Organizations

IRC 501(c)(4) provides for exemption of:

• Civic leagues or organizations not organized for profit but operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare.
• Local associations of employees, the membership of which is limited to the employees of a designated person or persons in a particular municipality and the net earnings of which are devoted exclusively to charitable, educational, or recreational purposes.

The statutory terms disclose that IRC 501(c)(4) embraces two general classifications:

a. Social welfare organizations, and
b. Local associations of employees.

Arkansas School Boards Association (ASBA) is a 501(c)4 organization and receives public funds from its respective member school districts.

• Arkansas School Boards Association (ASBA)
  • Twenty-one (21) Employees (According to ARSBA.org)
  • Ended Fiscal Year 6.30.11 with $3,965,779 in Net Assets or Fund Balance
  • $387,072 (Membership Fees)
  • $220,260 (Policy Service Income)
  • $173,155 (State Conference Income)
  • $49,795 (New Board Member Workshop)
  • $30,413 (Commercial Affiliate Fees)
  • $10,769 (Investment Income)
  • $901,431 (Administration Fee, Workers’ Compensation)
  • $414,491 (Administration Fee, Risk Management)
  • $106,965 (TAPS Royalties)
  • $2,459,283 Total Revenue

501(c)6 Organizations

IRC 501(c)(6) provides for exemption of business leagues, chambers ofcommerce, real estate boards, boards of trade, and professional footballleagues (whether or not administering a pension fund for football players),which are not organized for profit and no part of the net earnings of whichinures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators (AAEA), Arkansas Education Association (AEA), and Arkansas Learns are 501(c)6 organizations. The difference: AEA and Arkansas Learns are privately funded by their respective members. AAEA receives public funds from their superintendents’ respective school districts.

• Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators (AAEA)
  • Eight (8) employees (According to TheAAEA.org)
  • Ended Fiscal Year 6.30.2012 with $3,152,681 in Net Assets or Fund Balance
  • $514,550 (Membership Revenue)
  • $95,500 (Government Grants)
  • $1,490,341 (Conferences, Publication Income, Certification Fees, Online Job Service, Miscellaneous)
  • $2,199,879 Total Revenue
• Arkansas Education Association (AEA)
  • Thirteen (13) Employees (According to AEAOnline.org)
  • Ended Fiscal Year 8.31.2012 with $884,433 in Net Assets or Fund Balance
  • $3,556,240 (Member Dues)
  • $1,911 (Investment Income)
  • $19,500 (Rental Income)
  • $19,302 (Subscriptions)
  • $160 (Miscellaneous)
  • $3,989,816 Total Revenue
  • $17,800 (Political Campaign and Lobbying Activities)
• Arkansas Learns
  • One (1) Employee
  • $363,800 Total Revenue