Lawmakers will decide Friday whether to send an additional $32 million to Arkansas’ school voucher program, which has seen a large increase in participation after opening to all students for the first time last fall.
The Arkansas Legislative Council is taking up a request that would push the Educational Freedom Account program’s cost to nearly $310 million for the year.
The program, created through a 2023 education overhaul known as the LEARNS Act, provides state funding for allowable education expenses such as private school tuition. Lawmakers allocated more than $187 million for the program in the state’s budget in April before approving an additional $90 million in June…