To Require The Department Of Education To Establish A New Accountability System For Public Schools; And To Remove Public Schools From School Ratings For Certain School Years.
Summary
HB1598 directs the Arkansas Department of Education to create a new public school accountability system and temporarily pauses the use of the current school rating system for one school year. The bill states that the change is intended to align school accountability with the educational priorities of the LEARNS Act and to allow time for the state to collect better data before issuing reliable ratings.
Under the bill, the Department may not assign new school ratings under the existing system for the 2023-2024 school year. It must instead develop a new accountability system and use that system to issue letter grades for the 2024-2025 school year for all public schools, including open-enrollment public charter schools. Schools that do not improve or maintain their most recent letter grade under the new system may request a review by the Division of Public School Accountability, which must review the relevant data and determine the final grade. The temporary provisions expire on June 30, 2026.
Impact
HB1598 affects Arkansas education law by suspending one year of school ratings under the current accountability framework in § 6-15-2105 and requiring the Department of Education to implement a new accountability system. It changes how public schools and open-enrollment public charter schools are evaluated, shifts the timing of letter-grade assignments, and creates a review process for schools challenging their grade under the new system. The bill is temporary and does not permanently repeal the existing rating statute, but it delays and replaces its application for the specified school years.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have broad legislative support and little visible opposition. It passed the House 89-2 and the Senate 33-1, suggesting strong bipartisan agreement or at least limited controversy over the need to update the school accountability system. The bill’s findings frame the change as a practical step to improve accuracy and align with recent education reforms, which likely contributed to the favorable votes.
Contention
The main point of contention is not whether accountability should exist, but how quickly and under what system schools should be rated. Supporters emphasize that the current system needs to be paused while a new one is developed to better reflect the LEARNS Act and produce more reliable data. Any concern from opponents would likely center on delaying public school ratings, reducing transparency for parents and communities, or creating uncertainty for schools during the transition, but the vote totals suggest those concerns were limited.