Arkansas

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Facts at a Glance

Use the Education Counts Database to find more detailed state information, ranks, comparisons across states, national statistics and more.
Governor:Mike Beebe
Commissioner of Education:Tom W. Kimbrell
Quality Counts state grade:B-
Pre-K-12 enrollment:482,114
Number of school districts:258
Number of public schools:1,110
Number of public school teachers:34,273
Unadjusted education spending per student:$9,281
Percent minority students:35.2%
Percent of students eligible for free/reduced price lunch:60.5%
Percent of students with disabilities:13.5%
Percent of English-language learners:6.5%
NAEP Mathematics 2011 percent proficient
4th grade math:37.3%
8th grade math:29.3%
NAEP Reading 2011 percent proficient
4th grade reading:30.1%
8th grade reading:27.8%

Teacher Employment Information

See information on Arkansas's certification requirements, salary information, and other teacher-employment data.

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With their single-district days behind them, leaders of the new merged Two Rivers school district in rural Arkansas are looking for ways to make the relationship work.
November 23, 2004 - Education Week
Voters showed caution about sending more money to public schools or dramatically changing course on education policy, as they decided school-related questions on state ballots last week.
November 9, 2004 - Education Week
More than one-fifth of children and adolescents in public schools in Arkansas are considered overweight.
October 1, 2004 - Education Week
A groundbreaking statewide study released last week evaluating the body weights of nearly all public school students in Arkansas has found that 38 percent of them are overweight or are at risk of becoming overweight.
October 1, 2004 - Education Week
An Arkansas school district’s practice of searching the pockets, purses, and backpacks of randomly selected classrooms of students for drugs and other contraband violates students’ right to privacy, a federal appeals court has ruled.
September 28, 2004 - Education Week
Arkansas’ decade-long court battle over school finances may finally be over, but the larger legal and political dogfight over money for rural schools and the consolidation of rural school districts is just beginning to get fierce.
July 14, 2004 - Education Week
Rural educators in the state don’t see how forcing Arkansas’ 57 smallest school districts to consolidate will help improve the education of local children.
April 21, 2004 - Education Week
The Arkansas Supreme Court will appoint a special master to oversee compliance with a ruling that requires the state to overhaul its school aid system.
February 4, 2004 - Education Week
Arkansas lawmakers finally seemed poised to pass a stopgap school funding package last week, as they scrambled against the clock to meet a Jan. 1 deadline imposed by the state supreme court.
January 7, 2004 - Education Week
President Bush's selection last week of Arkansas state schools chief Raymond Simon as the next assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education appears to be winning mostly favorable reviews, from his home state to the nation's capital.
October 1, 2003 - Education Week

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