Usha Vance reads to North Little Rock students, honors merit-pay teachers with Sanders

NORTH LITTLE ROCK — Second Lady Usha Vance read a picture book to North Little Rock elementary students Tuesday, then joined Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the Governor’s Mansion to honor teachers who earned state merit bonuses, a day the two used to promote the reading gains Sanders credits to her LEARNS Act.

Vance and Sanders toured classrooms at Glenview Elementary School, sat in on a roundtable with state education leaders and closed the school visit with an all-school assembly, where Vance read “Chrysanthemum,” a book she said is her daughter’s favorite, the Arkansas Advocate reported.

“I came all the way from Washington, D.C. because I heard what amazing work all of you guys out there do every day in the classroom, and I wanted to see it for myself,” Vance told the students.

In the afternoon the two met privately to talk about the state’s literacy push, then hosted a reception at the mansion in Little Rock for 50 educators who had received bonuses through the Merit Teacher Incentive Fund, according to a photo release from the governor’s office. Neither event was open to the public. The governor’s office announced the trip Monday.

“Today I saw the progress that is possible when a state and school community commit to achieving excellence,” Vance said in the release. “These efforts reflect an important truth: children make progress when the adults around them work together.”

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Sanders said in the release that Vance has “used her platform to emphasize the importance of literacy in a child’s development,” and called the ability to read “a critical benchmark that determines future educational success.”

A closed-door roundtable

The roundtable brought together Sanders, First Gentleman Bryan Sanders, Education Secretary Jacob Oliva, several members of the state Board of Education, North Little Rock School District Superintendent Gregory Pilewski and state Rep. Keith Brooks, R-Little Rock, who chairs the House Education Committee and was a lead sponsor of LEARNS. Most of the discussion was closed to the press.

Oliva pointed to North Little Rock as an example. The district was graded F a year ago and rose to a C in the state letter grades released in September.

“What we know matters is if we build the right systems and invest in high-quality teachers, get them great leaders, provide the right robust support, and get the systems aligned, we’re going to see great results,” Oliva said, according to the Advocate.

Glenview serves about 270 students in prekindergarten through fifth grade on East 19th Street. Its principal is Dwight Kelly.

The numbers behind the visit

Sanders signed LEARNS in 2023. Among other things, the law requires reading screenings for students in kindergarten through third grade, sent more than 120 literacy coaches to D- and F-rated schools and funded tutoring grants for struggling readers. It also requires that third graders who do not read on grade level be held back unless they qualify for an exemption, a rule that took effect for the first time in the 2025-26 school year.

The governor’s office says third-grade reading proficiency on the state’s ATLAS exam rose from 35% in 2024 to 43% in 2026, and kindergarten English language arts proficiency rose from 50.2% to 66% in a single year, figures it first released in June. Even with the gain, a majority of the state’s third graders still did not test as proficient readers this spring.

The release also repeated the administration’s claim that Arkansas “leads the nation in teacher satisfaction with a rate of 89%.” The 89% figure comes from a statewide survey of Arkansas teachers by the University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform. The national comparison rests on separate data, chiefly an Education Week Research Center morale index that ranked Arkansas teachers highest in the country, according to the university. Gallup found 76% of Arkansas teachers satisfied with their school as a workplace, compared with 69% nationally.

Merit pay

The Merit Teacher Incentive Fund, created by LEARNS, pays bonuses to teachers whose students show strong growth, who mentor aspiring teachers or who work in hard-to-staff subjects and regions. For the 2025-26 school year the state paid about $15.9 million in bonuses to 4,857 educators, or $19.5 million including benefits, the governor’s office said in June. Eighty received the maximum $10,000.

Over the program’s three years, the governor’s office says, the fund has paid more than $50 million to more than 12,000 educators. The law also raised the minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000 and gave every teacher a raise of at least $2,000.

The Department of Education’s 2026 distribution map shows the bonuses spread unevenly. Twelve of the state’s 234 districts had no recipients this year.

Vance’s reading push

Vance, a Yale-trained lawyer and the first Indian American second lady, has made children’s reading the center of her public schedule since her husband, JD Vance, became vice president in January 2025. Her Summer Reading Challenge asks students in kindergarten through eighth grade to read 12 books over the summer break. Those who finish receive a certificate, a letter from Vance, a prize and an entry in a nationwide drawing that includes a White House visit.

The governor’s office said this year’s challenge drew readers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and four territories, and that participation more than doubled from the first year. Vance also hosts “Storytime with the Second Lady,” a podcast on which athletes, musicians and other guests read children’s books.

The visit came two weeks before the Nov. 3 general election, in which Sanders is seeking a second term against Democratic state Sen. Fred Love of Mabelvale and Libertarian Colt Shelby of Cecil. Early voting began Monday.