The business case for pre-k is a straightforward one. High quality pre-k is workforce development. And, more Arkansas business leaders are becoming pre-k leaders. The members of the Conway and Jonesboro Chambers of Commerce and the Northwest Arkansas Council...
For most of us, letter grades generally don’t reflect how smart we are or how much we learned about, say, medieval history. They can reflect our feelings at one point in time about the importance of, say, medieval history...
Earlier this year, we talked about how schools disproportionately suspend and expel Black youth. The conversation has reemerged with new reports showing that Arkansas schools continue to punish Black youth harsher than their peers in disciplinary practices. Sending kids...
I spend a lot of time thinking about education and opportunity. I love the idea that education can unlock an excitement for reading a new adventure story, a love of the tuba, or the idea of a whole new...
Even though we all know “it takes a village,” we don’t make the necessary investment to ensure that all children reach their full potential. So, it was a treat this week to take part in a special event that brought...
Check out our newest report, The AACF Guide to School Funding. Before you get started, here are three quick things you need to know: Public Schools serve nearly all Arkansas children. During the 2013-2014 school year, 95.7 percent of...
From our latest publication, The Business Case for Pre-K: The importance of pre-K rises as the number of children living in poverty goes up. In Arkansas that is 29 percent of our children. Nationally it’s 23 percent. Pre-K enables...
AACF is excited to announce that Kathryn Hazelett will join our staff as our new education policy director. Kathryn has a history of working toward positive policy changes that benefit Arkansas’s children and families. She is passionate about education and it...
Arkansas is slipping when it comes to pre-K education. Every year, the Annie E. Casey Foundation releases the Kids Count Data Book, featuring new numbers on the well-being of children in Arkansas. Over the past year, we’ve seen a...
The 2015 KIDS COUNT® Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation points out that more than 200,000 children are living in poverty in Arkansas. That’s almost 30 percent – close to one third – of all children in...