By Andrew DeMillo | Editor-in-Chief

The Top 3

Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon tout the reduction of red tape for Arkansas schools via federal waivers at the Hot Springs Junior Academy charter school on July 7, 2026. (Photo by Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

By Tess Vrbin

HOT SPRINGS — The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday approved Arkansas’ requests to consolidate federal funding and reduce the amount of paperwork and red tape required of school administrators.

Charlie Kirk at the 2021 AmericaFest conference in Phoenix. (Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0)

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

By Ainsley Platt

A former Arkansas high school teacher accused the Russellville School District in a federal lawsuit Wednesday of violating his First Amendment rights when it fired him last year over a post he made on social media alluding to conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death.

Protesters sign petitions at the No Kings March in Little Rock, Arkansas on Saturday, March 28, 2026 (Photo by Katie Adkins/Arkansas Advocate).

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

By Andrew DeMillo and Antoinette Grajeda

Arkansas officials are reviewing thousands of signatures submitted in favor of a proposal to preserve the state’s initiative and referendum process to determine if it’ll qualify for the November ballot

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