Arkansas Group Successfully Halts LEARNS Act with Petition Signatures

The group Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students believes it has collected enough signatures to put the Arkansas LEARNS Act on hold. They needed 55,422 signatures and ended up with about 55,000. The Secretary of State's office will now verify each signature individually, a process that could take 25 to 30 days. During this time, the group can continue to gather more signatures. The LEARNS Act, passed earlier this year, raises the minimum teacher salary, bans the teaching of critical race theory, and has a program to fund private and religious schools.