LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — On Thursday, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin rejected For AR Kids' education ballot initiative for the second time.
The group first introduced the Educational Rights Amendment of 2024 in late December, with hopes of adding an amendment to Article 14 of the Arkansas Constitution.
The first time that the proposal was submitted, the AG's office said the proposal had an unconstitutional provision, lacked clarity on key terms, and had typographical issues, including missing words and misnumbered sections.
Their initial proposal includes requiring any school that is receiving public funds to follow the same standards as traditional public schools, establishing minimum quality standards, guaranteeing universal access to pre-k for three and four-year-olds, and addressing special education.
For AR Kids later resubmitted a revised proposal, which Attorney General Tim Griffin rejected once again after having reviewed it.
Griffin said that after having reviewed the text of the proposed constitutional amendment and the proposed name and ballot title he was rejecting both the popular name and ballot title because of two issues.
He also explained how the usage of the term "provision" in the revised proposal was very ambiguous and it prevented him from being able to ensure that the ballot title was not misleading.
He said they could be using the term to mean that "The State is required to supply [certain] resources for schools" or that they could instead be using that same term to say that "The State would provide funding to the schools to obtain [certain] resources for themselves."
The AG said that the ambiguity of the term must be fixed before he can be sure that the ballot title isn't misleading.
Griffin also noted that the usage of the term "tax benefits" in the proposal is too ambiguous for him to be sure that the ballot-title summary isn't misleading. He said that the current use of the term could mean many things such as receipt by the school, receipt by the student attending that school, or even the student's parents or guardians.
Attorney General Tim Griffin said that as it is currently worded, the ballot initiative is misleading by omission and he is unable to certify it as it is. He explained that their intent is not clear enough for him to "substitute and certify a ballot title."
He has requested that For AR Kids redesign the proposed measure and ballot title in a way that would not be misleading.
In response, For AR Kids explained that their legal team is reviewing the AG's opinion and will be submitting their revised proposal within the coming days.
They also explained that they could consider taking possible legal action in the future if they feel; that there are "irreconcilable differences between the AG’s office and [their] goal of providing every Arkansas student the educational opportunities they deserve."
“We spent time with the AG and our attorneys and we felt very good about the petition we submitted. Obviously, this is very disappointing and we will regroup and find our pathway forward to advance this to the people for a vote,” said Steve Grappe, Executive Director of CAPES.