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Arkansas Establish Educational Standards for Schools Receiving Public Funding Initiative (2026)
| Arkansas Require Identical Standards for Schools Receiving Public Funding Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2026 | |
| Topic Education | |
| Status Cleared for signature gathering | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Arkansas Require Identical Standards for Schools Receiving Public Funding Initiative may appear on the ballot in Arkansas as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2026.
The amendment would require identical academic and accreditation standards for all schools receiving state or local funding, including private schools that receive state or local funding. The amendment would require the state to provide universal access to voluntary early childhood education for children aged three and older before entering kindergarten, as well as afterschool and summer programs. The amendment would require education funding assistance for students from families earning up to 200% of the federal poverty level. The amendment would require services for students with disabilities. The amendment would define adequate education that includes teaching communication skills; political, economic, and social systems; government processes; mental and physical wellness; arts; and academic and vocational skills. The General Assembly would be required to enact legislation to implement and fund these provisions, and the amendment prohibits legislative changes or repeal without voter approval.[1]
Text of measure
The full text is available here.
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Arkansas, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. Proponents must collect signatures equaling at least half of the designated percentage of gubernatorial votes in at least 50 of the state's counties. Signatures remain valid until the date of the next general election following the certification of ballot language. Signature petitions must be submitted four months prior to the election at which the measure is to appear.
The requirements to get initiated constitutional amendments certified for the 2026 ballot:
- Signatures: 90,704 valid signatures
- Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures is July 3, 2026.
If the secretary of state certifies that enough signatures were submitted in a petition, the initiative is put on the ballot. If a petition fails to meet the signature requirement, but the petition has at least 75 percent of the valid signatures needed, petitioners have 30 days to collect additional signatures or demonstrate that rejected signatures are valid.
Details about this initiative
- For AR Kids filed the initiative.
- The Attorney General certified the ballot language for the proposed measure on February 26 2025.[2]
See also
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External links
Footnotes
