Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced a major breakthrough in education, with the state’s public school students seeing sharp gains on a new statewide exam. The proficiency rates have risen more than 7% across all grades and subjects in just three years under the state’s conservative education reforms.

Education Reform

The LEARNS Act, a 2023 Republican-backed statewide education overhaul, raised the minimum teacher salary, created performance-based teacher bonuses, boosted literacy support, funded school safety initiatives, and banned critical race theory and classroom teachings related to critical race theory, gender identity, sexual orientation, and sexually explicit materials.

Since 2024, student proficiency has increased by more than 7% and by more than 5% since 2025, according to the governor’s office. Mathematics proficiency increased from 36.4% in 2024 to 44.2% in 2026, science proficiency rose from 35.6% to 44.0%, and English language arts proficiency climbed from 33.8% to 39.5%.

Results

Students performing at the lowest levels also fell across all subjects, dropping from an average of 27.3% in 2025 to 23.1% in 2026. Reading performance among third-graders improved as well, with proficiency rising from 36% in 2024 to 43% in 2026.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.