LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Many Little Rock Central High School students staged a walkout on Thursday to take a stand for their concerns about the Arkansas LEARNS Act.
“We are very very concerned for the state of our education system,” student and protest organizer Rhone Kuta said.
Teachers protest Arkansas LEARNS plan at Capitol
Protestors said the walkout was to demonstrate the disapproval of students receiving Education Freedom Account funds to attend private schools.
For the 2023-2024 school year, the state spent over $30 million on Education Freedom Accounts which uses public tax dollars to pay for kids to go to private schools in the name of school choice.
“Our state government has been passing a lot of laws that we thoroughly disagree with,” Kuta said.
The Arkansas Department of Education reports more than 20,000 EFA applications were submitted for the 2024-2025 school year compared to 6,495 applicants in 2023-2024.
5,548 students were approved with 57% being students with disabilities.