Organizers of a statewide, grassroots effort to hold private schools that accept public dollars accountable and ensure pre-K, aftercare and quality special education services for all students fell short in their campaign to get on the November ballot.
For AR Kids, a coalition that included the Arkansas Conference of the NAACP, the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, the Arkansas Education Association and others, relied on a network of volunteers to attempt to collect the 90,704 signatures required to get their proposal before voters. An hour before Friday’s deadline to turn them in, they announced they had 69,968.
While that number falls short, it’s enough to keep hope afloat. Elaine Williams, one of the organizers for the Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment, said there’s enough energy and enthusiasm to win. There just wasn’t enough money or time this go-round.
“People believed in what we were trying to do and what we are going to do,” she said. “We’re not yet through. We’ve only begun.”
A late start after multiple rounds of wrangling over ballot language with the attorney general’s office hurt signature collection efforts, Public Policy Panel Executive Director Bill Kopsky said. Fundraising was extra tough too, considering they were up against the Waltons and other deep-pocketed proponents of school vouchers.
Billionaires like Jim Walton and Tik-Tok investor Jeff Yass spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to stop the ragtag For AR Kids crew from getting the amendment on the ballot. Opposition groups raised more than $1 million. For AR Kids raised less than $10,000. The odds were never good.
“We are disappointed,” Kopsky said. “We’re also really grateful and optimistic. We’re not giving up.”
He said they would try again, but with more money in the bank next time.