"There's a lot of things happening here," said Mayor Nathan See as he welcomed those attending the Town Hall meeting with State Sen. Joshua Bryant. "As everybody knows, northwest Arkansas is thriving."
Bryant, a veteran, said he was on the Benton County Quorum Court before serving as a state representative. He now holds the Senate seat vacated by long-serving senator Cecile Bledsoe, who retired.
"The Senate fits my personality. It's a little slower, a little calmer, more thoughtful pace," Bryant said.
Questions about the LEARNS Act and the Protect Act spurred him to host Town Hall meetings to inform the residents of Arkansas.
The LEARNS Act was a year-long process and not as rushed as some people claim, he said.
"We had a lot of input from a lot of stakeholders from the education industry," he said.
The LEARNS Act stands for Literacy, Empowerment, Accountability, Readiness, Networking and School Safety.
"All six of those components are flushed out somewhere in the LEARNS Act," he said. "We gave a lot of authority to our Department of Education to promulgate the rules of what goes into those specific components. One of those is the freedom accounts (vouchers)."
Bryant explained the freedom accounts in detail. He said the money is not being taken away from public education.
"We're taking general revenue and adding it to school choice education," he said. Funds for year one were $150 million but they have not yet hit $100 million.
He said educators admit that the process makes public educators want to do better.
Year three is where we open it up to everybody, which includes the home school culture. He said a "blank check" is not offered and officials from Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) will ask for information on what the reimbursement is to cover.