“Pledged to empower parents with more school choices (later the Education Freedom Account voucher program under LEARNS) so no child is trapped in a failing school.”
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Both cited sources are reachable and directly support the CHAMPIONED rating for this school-choice/Education Freedom Account promise. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas documents that the LEARNS Act was Sanders's "signature piece of legislation" and stated top priority as governor — she authored/drove it as an executive initiative rather than casting a single vote or passively supporting someone else's bill, which meets the CHAMPIONED leadership bar. It confirms verbatim that she "described the plan as 'the most far-reaching, bold, conservative education reform in America,'" that she "signed the bill into law on March 8, 2023, at a ceremony in the Arkansas State Capitol," and that for the 2025-2026 school year students seeking vouchers exceeded 50,000. ABC News confirms the March 8, 2023 signing, the "Education Freedom Accounts" branding "under Sanders," and the verbatim quote "I am not interested in being a caretaker of the failed status quo." The promise — empowering parents with more school choices via the EFA voucher program under LEARNS — is fully realized (program launched, phased to universal eligibility by 2025-26). The rating's quoted excerpts are lightly paraphrased/composited but every quoted phrase and factual claim is genuinely present in the sources; nothing is fabricated. Leadership plus full realization justify CHAMPIONED.
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