The Arkansas House Committee on Education voted on several bills Tuesday, including Governor Asa Hutchinson’s proposed statewide computer science class, state certification of yoga teachers schools, and expanding class sizes in public schools.
The bill bill on class sizes would have added two extra students to classrooms on a temporary basis.
“I believe school districts are just being non compliant with (current) law. I don’t think it’s a realistic expectation they’re going to hire a school teacher seven weeks into school,” said Rep. Jim Dotson-R.
He argued for the bill, saying schools are already adding the extra students.
Brenda Robinson, President of Arkansas Educational Association, spoke against the bill.
“These standards are there for a reason to ensure the students get the support they deserve. There is also a process by which a school district can get a waiver if it is needed,” she said.
The bill failed with a 13-to-5 vote.
The committee did vote to pass Republican Rep. Charlie Collin’s bill to stop the state from requiring licenses for yoga training schools
“The teachers that learn yoga are not making money doing it, it's for those recreational and avocational reasons and that's what SB94 does, it also recognizes other activities that are very similar, dance, music, horseback writing, sewing, knitting, needle craft as fitting in the same category."
Despite concern from state board of private career education chairman Christopher Comer that such academies are vocational and could exploit students without recourse.
“While I've been on this board, I've seen people come forward, students who have come forward, they were required to make $1500.00 additional purchases for equipment they could buy online for $300.00, the exact same equipment, brand new,” he said.
The committee also unanimously passed a bill to help fulfill Governor Asa Hutchinson’s campaign promise to make a computer science course available to high school students statewide. Rep. Bill Gossag sponsored the bill.
“By 2020, there will be 1.4 million computing jobs in America. There will only 400 thousand graduates from computer science degrees. The first point is to add this computer science course but the point is much larger than that. He wants Arkansas to lead the way when it comes to coding and computer science,” said Gossage.
The committee also voted to allow districts greater flexibility in funding days for teachers’ professional development.
Bills that advanced out of the committee are headed for a vote on the house floor.
The committee will soon vote on whether to require public colleges and universities to allow staff to carry concealed handguns, and whether to require cursive writing in elementary schools.
