Pastor Father Stephen Elser plays Gaga Ball with fifth-grade students at St. Paul School in Pocahontas Oct. 13, 2023. (Courtesy St. Paul School)

One year later: Pros and cons of LEARNS

It’s been a year since the new voucher initiative known as Educational Freedom Accounts were introduced to Catholic school parents. Since then, schools have seen some positive and negative outcomes as a result of the state’s LEARNS Act. 

EFAs enable families to select the most suitable school for their children, regardless of their income level. Families can apply for EFAs from the state for tuition and fees up to $6,600 a student. 

When the LEARNS Act was enacted in March 2023, the EFAs applied to a limited set of students. This month, EFAs are available to more families, and in 2025 they will be available to all Arkansas families, regardless of their income. 

Positives

One of the positives in schools is higher teacher salaries, which were increased to remain competitive with the public school teacher minimum salary of $50,000 a year. 

Some schools also are seeing higher student enrollment. 

  • Christ the King School in Fort Smith increased from 269 students in 2023 to 320 students. 

“(Their) kindergarten and first grade have each grown, but they also have a very strong (pre-kindergarten) program and have shown growth in other grades as well,” superintendent Theresa Hall said. 

  • Immaculate Conception School in North Little Rock has seen enrollment increase from 386 to 409. 

“Growth in their (pre-kindergarten) program is part of that increase,” Hall said. 

  • St. Joseph School in Conway has increased enrollment from 508 to 534, with Hall noting that the school has seen a big increase in pre-K4 and first-grade students, in addition to growth in other grades. 
  • Enrollment at St. John School in Russellville has increased by roughly 13 students, which Hall notes “for a small school makes a difference.”

“We believe that we will see growth in many schools, especially in the 2025-2026 school year when EFAs become universal,” Hall said.

Jennifer Elder, principal of St. John School in Russellville, said the LEARNS Act has played a role in student recruitment. 

“LEARNS has been partially responsible for an increase in our enrollment,” Elder said. “We have had many families express their gratefulness in the program, because it makes affording a private school more manageable. …”

Hall said in schools that have more minority students, EFA vouchers have been the most helpful. 

Kristy Dunn, principal of St. Theresa School in southwest Little Rock, said the LEARNS Act is having a big impact on her school and the surrounding Hispanic community. 

“We had a 14-percent enrollment growth,” Dunn said. “… Last year, we had 40 students on the EFAs, and this year we know we have at least 80. It might hit 90,” Dunn said. 

Dunn said through her work and attendance of conferences with the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame that she’s seen the data regarding costs and quality. 

“We like to say that if it was free, more people would choose us,” Dunn said. “… But that’s actually not true, because funding is not really our only obstacle … the data support that you’ve got to have the funding and a really good, mission-driven school, a real quality school.” 

Dunn has noticed this year, her faculty and staff are at full capacity, as opposed to last year’s shortage. 

Some schools like St. Joseph School in Fayetteville are at capacity and now have a waiting list. Principal Deacon Jason Pohlmeier said, “I have not seen any negative impacts from the LEARNS Act so far. Our school began a period of steady growth in 2020-21 from the moment we released our return-to-school plan for COVID. We have grown approximately 20 students each year since then and have reached our all-time highest enrollment. We have had more waiting lists in the past two years than we ever did in the past, but we do have space for a few more students in most grades.”

Parents say they are happy to have EFAs available to them. Daniela Delgadillo, who has two sons attending St. Theresa School, said the LEARNS Act has brought positives for her family.

“It’s been beneficial for both my children because … one of my boys has ADHD and my other one has dyslexia,” Delgadillo said. “So it was a great thing and it helped me out a lot since I’m currently not working.”

Delgadillo is glad her children have the opportunity to attend the same school she did. 

“I went to St. Theresa, myself and my family,” Delgadillo said. “So to me, it’s more like a family-oriented school. And I love that my kids can go and they go to school with (the children of) some of my old classmates.”

Negatives

One of the drawbacks to the EFAs is not all schools can accept more students.

“St. Joseph in Fayetteville and St. Vincent de Paul in Rogers … are at capacity or close to capacity at many grade levels,” Hall said. “Christ the King (School in) Little Rock and Our Lady of the Holy Souls (School in Little Rock) also are near capacity. It does not mean that they aren’t accepting new students. It means that many of their grades may be full or have limited space available.”

This presents unique problems for families that have more than one child. 

“When families apply that might have more than one child, there may be room for one of the children in their grade, but (for) the other child/children, there may not be room for them in their grade,” Hall said. 

Some schools have raised tuition to help account for the increase in teacher salaries.

“Some schools paid the salaries of support staff through EANS (Emergency Assistance for Non-Public Schools) funds — COVID-related funding that ends this September,” Hall said. “To keep the support staff added and still needed for positions such as interventionist (see related story, page 9), the schools now must build that into their budgets.”

Tuition also increased to help account for the cost of educating every child. 

“The cost to educate in many cases is more than the cost of tuition,” Hall said. “Schools relied heavily on church subsidies and fundraising. Following COVID, many churches have reduced or eliminated the amount of subsidy offered.”

The LEARNS Act has also put new strains on schools. 

“Although the LEARNS Act has had a positive financial impact on the families that have participated, it has not had a measurable impact on our enrollment,” said Matt Dempsey, principal of Catholic High School in Little Rock. “… On the other hand, it has significantly increased the demands on our office of financial administration. We have also been forced to add a standardized test to our testing regimen.”

Educators and parents have also cited concerns with the overlap between state educational policies and parochial institutions. 

“The major problem would always be that the funding would stop,” Pohlmeier said. “The legal challenges that arise cause this concern. So far, none of those major challenges have come to fruition, but if any ever did, it would be a major hurdle. Once families receive EFA funding, I expect they will stop budgeting for tuition. If the LEARNS Act went away and families had to return to paying out of their own pockets, it would be a rude awakening for everyone.”

Dempsey echoed concerns about maintaining separation from state requirements. 

“Catholic schools do an incredible job of developing and advancing their powerful missions,” Dempsey said. “My concern for the future is whether state-imposed requirements might be contrary to those missions. One great strength of our Catholic schools has always been their independence from bureaucracy.”

Elder expressed concerns about maintaining a quality education in parochial schools. 

“My concern is always about maintaining the quality of education that we have worked over 100 years to provide at St. John’s,” Elder said. “We want to increase enrollment and extend the benefits that LEARNS provides but still have smaller class sizes and good teacher to student ratios. We want our St. John’s families to know that their student’s educational experience is always the top priority.”

Hall said the discontinuation of EFAs through a lawsuit seems unlikely.

“It is possible that a challenge to the LEARNS Act could happen,” she said. “It seems unlikely that the EFAs would be taken away given the success of school choice legislation across the country. However, schools need to address the discrepancy between tuition and the cost to educate, raising teacher salaries and having staffing to accommodate students with special needs. All this is needed with or without the EFAs.”

Katie Zakrzewski

Katie Zakrzewski joined Arkansas Catholic as associate editor in 2023 after working in local media and the environmental sector. A member of St. Mary Church in North Little Rock, she recently completed her master’s degree in public service from the Clinton School.

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