Second Lady Usha Vance is taking her childhood literacy campaign to Arkansas, where she will join Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday for a day of classroom visits, an education roundtable and a reception honoring teachers who earned state bonuses.
The trip, first detailed in a press release shared exclusively with The Daily Wire, kicks off at Glenview Elementary School in North Little Rock, where Vance and Sanders will drop in on students in their classrooms. The two will then sit down with state education leaders for a roundtable discussion before Vance reads aloud to a schoolwide assembly.
The day wraps up at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion with a reception for educators who received bonuses through the state’s Merit Teacher Incentive Fund.
A national spotlight on reading
For Vance, the Arkansas stop is the latest in a broader effort to make reading a signature issue of her time as second lady. In a statement provided to The Daily Wire, she said she was eager to meet the students, educators and families driving literacy work in the state.
“Helping children discover a love of reading is one of the greatest gifts we can give them,” Vance said.
Sanders framed the visit as validation of her administration’s education record, calling the next generation the state’s top priority and describing a strong education as the surest path to success for kids. She credited Vance with elevating childhood literacy nationally and said Arkansas is “answering the call.”
“Under my administration, we’ve made massive strides in education, and I’m excited that Mrs. Vance gets to visit and meet with some of the students and educators who are helping our schools thrive,” Sanders said.
Summer reading challenge drew all 50 states
Vance has spent much of the past year building out her literacy portfolio. Earlier this year she launched a Summer Reading Challenge that asked elementary and middle school students to read 12 books over the break. Participants who finished received a personalized letter from Vance, a certificate, prizes and a shot at a raffle to visit the White House.
The program drew participants from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and several U.S. territories — more than double the previous summer’s turnout. Vance also hosts a podcast, “Storytime with the Second Lady,” featuring guest readers from entertainment, sports and beyond.
In a recent interview with Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan, Vance said her interest in the issue grew out of alarm at declining literacy scores and a drop in reading for pleasure, along with what she described as the erosion of attention caused by screen-based media.
“I was really concerned by what I was seeing about the decline in literacy scores, the decline in reading for pleasure,” Vance said, adding that she has noticed “the loss of attention and the attraction that screen-based inputs have to everyone, children and adults.”
She described reading as a counterweight to that pull and a way to build sustained attention and a lasting appetite for learning. Vance also acknowledged the limits of her office: no large budget, no agency to run. What she does have, she said, is the ability to convene people who care about the issue and push them to act — which she argued made the effort worth taking on.
Arkansas leans on its education record
The visit also gives Sanders a national stage for the LEARNS Act, the sweeping education package she signed in 2023. The law raised the state’s minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000, deployed 120 literacy coaches across schools and established universal school choice.
It also created the Merit Teacher Incentive Fund, which according to the governor’s office has paid out more than $50 million in bonuses to over 12,000 educators. Sanders has said student test scores have risen across grades and subjects since the law took effect.
The pairing puts two Republican figures with different platforms — a second lady focused on a soft-power literacy push and a governor touting a legislative overhaul — on the same stage. For Vance, whose role carries little formal authority, the Arkansas schedule is a template she has followed elsewhere: show up in classrooms, read to kids and use the visibility of the office to nudge states and outside groups toward action.
Tuesday’s events are closed to the public, but the imagery of a second lady and a governor reading to elementary students — and celebrating teachers with cash bonuses — is likely to travel further than the school gymnasium. Whether the literacy push translates into measurable gains is a longer project, one Vance has said she intends to keep at.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/usha-vance-and-sarah-sanders-join-forces-for-a-classroom-comeback