Back to School? Not so fast, Arkansas.

First day of school plunged into chaos by last minute changes. {NAME} – Like thousands of other Arkansas families, this morning we took the obligatory ‘First Day’ photos of my youngest with her backpack, headed off to school to start a new year and a new chapter of life.  But this year, Back-to-School feels like anything but.  To start with, today is the first day of school since the extremely partisan, anti-education LEARNS Act has taken effect in Arkansas.  While it will take time to see what the full effect of LEARNS will be (and while grassroots, nonpartisan efforts to repeal LEARNS are ongoing), we do know this law is basically a wishlist of right-wing policies designed to gut public education.  And now the school year has been plunged into chaos by a last minute change handed down by the state’s Department of Education to pull the AP course on African American Studies. [A graphic featuring a headline from Newsone which reads: “Arkansas abruptly removes AP African American Studies Course just days before school year starts.” Included is a photo of a stack of textbooks from Prentice Hall titled African-American History.]( This is the latest in a decades-long string of Republican attacks on public education that stretches from the White House to the State House, and our kids are paying the price.  Vortex is recruiting four bold Democrats to FLIP all four seats representing Arkansas in Congress so our teachers and students have people fighting for them in Washington. Can you pitch in today to help fund our candidate training program? If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Express Donate: $25 >>  Â]( [Express Donate: $50 >>  Â]( [Express Donate: $100 >> Â]( [Express Donate: $500 >> Â]( [Express Donate: $1,000 >>]( [Donate Other Amount: >> Â]( This shocking development was sprung on teachers by a phone call after 4:00pm on Friday afternoon. Teachers who have been prepping for months to begin this course TODAY were suddenly left without answers about whether or not they could even teach it.  Students who signed up for a course that is supposed to earn them college credits were suddenly left with a gap in their schedules.  And the DOE was offline until this morning – the first day of school – to address ANY of these questions.  But they had answers today. And those answers are...not good.  Outrageously, Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ Department of Education issued a statement citing the course was pulled because it constituted “indoctrination” that may violate the state’s ban on teaching “prohibited topics.”  Let me be CRYSTAL CLEAR: Black history is AMERICAN history, and it will not be erased no matter what kind of propaganda Sarah or her minions try to spew.  We have a duty as Arkansans and as parents to stand firm with the Black community nationwide and demand this history be taught to give our students a full and impartial education.  Vortex is doing our part by electing representatives who reflect the lived experiences of ALL Arkansans, and who will fight for justice, equality, and opportunity for everyone.  [Your contribution today will support our hardworking team to put together the strongest slate of candidates to fight for every single seat representing our state in Washington.](  Let’s go! Robb Ryerse Executive Director [Contribute to Vortex PAC](      Vortex PAC is a new grassroots movement to transform Arkansas politics away from the far-right. We are recruiting, training, and supporting Democratic candidates to flip all four of Arkansas’ U.S. congressional districts and help win back the House majority in 2024. [DONATE >>](   Paid for by Vortex PAC  ©2023 Vortex PAC, all rights reserved  Our mailing address is: Vortex PAC PO Box 1141 Springdale, AR 72765 We're sad to see you go, but if you believe you received this email in error, or you no longer wish to receive our emails you can unsubscribe using the link below: [Click here to unsubscribe.]( Sent via [ActionNetwork.org](. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from Vortex PAC, please [click here](.