§ 10-3-2102 - Duties.
10-3-2102. Duties.
(a) During each interim, the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education shall meet separately or jointly, as needed, to:
(1) Assess, evaluate, and monitor the entire spectrum of public education across the State of Arkansas to determine whether equal educational opportunity for an adequate education is being substantially afforded to the school children of the State of Arkansas and recommend any necessary changes;
(2) Review and continue to evaluate what constitutes an adequate education in the State of Arkansas and recommend any necessary changes;
(3) Review and continue to evaluate the method of providing equality of educational opportunity of the State of Arkansas and recommend any necessary changes;
(4) Evaluate the effectiveness of any program implemented by a school, a school district, an education service cooperative, the Department of Education, or the State Board of Education and recommend necessary changes;
(5) Review the average teacher salary in the State of Arkansas in comparison to average teacher salaries in surrounding states and member states of the Southern Regional Education Board and make recommendations for any necessary changes to teacher salaries in the State of Arkansas established by law;
(6) Review and continue to evaluate the costs of an adequate education for all students in the State of Arkansas, taking into account cost of living variances, diseconomies of scale, transportation variability, demographics, school districts with a disproportionate number of students who are economically disadvantaged or have educational disabilities, and other factors as deemed relevant, and recommend any necessary changes;
(7) Review and continue to evaluate the amount of per-student expenditure necessary to provide an equal educational opportunity and the amount of state funds to be provided to school districts, based upon the cost of an adequate education and monitor the expenditures and distribution of state funds and recommend any necessary changes;
(8) Review and monitor the amount of funding provided by the State of Arkansas for an education system based on need and the amount necessary to provide an adequate educational system, not on the amount of funding available, and make recommendations for funding for each biennium.
(b) As a guidepost in conducting deliberations and reviews, the committees shall use the opinion of the Supreme Court in the matter of Lake View Sch. Dist. No. 25 v. Huckabee, 351 Ark. 31, 91 S.W.3d 472 (2002), and other legal precedent.
(c) The Department of Education, the Department of Career Education, and the Department of Higher Education shall provide the committees with assistance and information as requested by the committees.
(d) The Attorney General is requested to provide assistance to the committees as needed.
(e) Contingent upon the availability of funding, the House Committee on Education, the Senate Committee on Education, or both, may enter into an agreement with outside consultants or other experts as may be necessary to conduct the adequacy review as required under this section.
(f) The study for subdivisions (a)(1)-(4) of this section shall be accomplished by:
(1) Reviewing a report prepared by the Division of Legislative Audit compiling all funding received by public schools for each program;
(2) Reviewing the curriculum frameworks developed by the Department of Education;
(3) Reviewing the Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment, and Accountability Program, 6-15-401 et seq.;
(4) Reviewing fiscal, academic, and facilities distress programs;
(5) Reviewing the state's standing under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.;
(6) Reviewing the Arkansas Comprehensive School Improvement Plan process; and
(7) Reviewing the specific programs identified for further study by the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education.
(g) (1) The study for subdivision (a)(5) of this section shall be accomplished by comparing the average teacher salary in Arkansas with surrounding states and Southern Regional Education Board member states, including without limitation:
(A) Comparing teacher salaries as adjusted by a cost of living index or a comparative wage index;
(B) Reviewing the minimum teacher compensation salary schedule; and
(C) Reviewing any related topics identified for further study by the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education.
(2) Depending on the availability of National Education Association data on teacher salaries in other states, the teacher salary comparison may be prepared as a supplement to the report after September 1.
(h) The study for subdivision (a)(6) of this section shall be accomplished by reviewing:
(1) Expenditures from:
(A) Isolated school funding;
(B) National school lunch student funding;
(C) Declining enrollment funding;
(D) Student growth funding;
(E) Special education funding;
(2) Disparities in teacher salaries; and
(3) Any related topics identified for further study by the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education.
(i) The study for subdivision (a)(7) of this section shall be accomplished by:
(1) Completing an expenditure analysis and resource allocation review each biennium; and
(2) Reviewing any related topics identified for further study by the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education.
(j) The study for subdivision (a)(8) of this section shall be accomplished by:
(1) Using evidence-based research as the basis for recalibrating as necessary the state's system of funding public education;
(2) Adjusting for the inflation or deflation of any appropriate component of the system of funding public education every two (2) years; and
(3) Reviewing any related topics identified for further study by the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education.