LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — On Thursday, the Ballot Question Committee with For AR Kids resubmitted the Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment of 2024 to the Arkansas Attorney General's office for approval.
This is now the committee's third time to resubmit the proposal.
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.
Meanwhile, after the second time, Attorney General Tim Griffin rejected it 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.
AG Griffin requested that For AR Kids redesign the proposed measure and ballot title in a way that would not be misleading.
Now, For AR Kids has said that their legal team has addressed the concerns that were raised by the Attorney General in his most recent rejection and that they have met with his staff to go over their concerns as well as their goals.
“We met with the staff of the Attorney General’s office to understand their concerns and to seek their input on how to achieve our goal of providing every Arkansas student with an excellent opportunity to learn and excel,” said April Reisma, President of Arkansas Education Association. “We look forward to putting this measure before voters.”
For AR Kids explained that they made to the proposed measure have now been "tailored narrowly" to fit the specific concerns that were pointed out by Attorney General Tim Griffin.
They have requested that the AG's office give them an expedited review so that they can ensure their volunteers will have plenty of time to be able to collect the signatures necessary to place the Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment on the ballot in November.