Editing Arkansas (section)

==Education==
{{Main|Education in Arkansas}}
{{See also|List of colleges and universities in Arkansas|List of high schools in Arkansas|List of school districts in Arkansas}}
Arkansas has 1,064 state-funded kindergartens, elementary, junior and senior high schools.<ref>{{cite web|title=Arkansas K-12 Profile: 2016–2017|url=https://adedatabeta.arkansas.gov/Ark12|publisher=Arkansas State Board of Education|access-date=August 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121061736/https://adedatabeta.arkansas.gov/ARK12|archive-date=January 21, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The state supports a network of public [[university|universities]] and colleges, including two major university systems: [[Arkansas State University System]] and [[University of Arkansas System]]. The [[University of Arkansas]], flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System in Fayetteville was ranked #63 among public schools in the nation by ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]''.<ref>{{cite web |website= College Ranking Lists |url= http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/top-public/spp%2B50/page+2 |publisher= U.S. News & World Report |title= Top Public Schools |year= 2014 |access-date= January 26, 2014 }}</ref> Other public institutions include [[Arkansas State University]], [[University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff]], [[Arkansas Tech University]], [[Henderson State University]], [[Southern Arkansas University]], and [[University of Central Arkansas]] across the state. It is also home to 11 private colleges and universities including [[Hendrix College]], one of the nation's top 100 [[liberal arts]] colleges, according to U.S. News & World Report.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=National Liberal Arts College Rankings |magazine=U.S. News & World Report |year=2012 |url=http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges |access-date=September 3, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821213346/http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges |archive-date=August 21, 2016 }}</ref>

In the 1920s the state required all children to attend public schools. The school year was set at 131 days, although some areas were unable to meet that requirement.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Holley|first1=Marc J|title=Encyclopedia of Arkansas}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=William Oscar|title=History of Public School Education in Arkansas; 1900–1918|date=August 30, 1918|publisher=University of Chicago, Department of Education|page=Page}}</ref>

Generally prohibited in the [[Western world]] at large, [[school corporal punishment]] is not unusual in Arkansas, with 20,083 public school students{{efn|This figure refers to only the number of students paddled, regardless of whether a student was spanked multiple times in a year, and does not refer to the number of instances of corporal punishment, which would be substantially higher.}} [[paddle (spanking)|paddled]] at least one time, according to government data for the 2011–12 school year.<ref name="CORPUN_US_SCHOOL" /> The rate of corporal punishment in public schools is higher only in [[Mississippi]].<ref name="CORPUN_US_SCHOOL">{{cite web|url=http://corpun.com/counuss.htm |title= Corporal punishment in US schools |publisher=World Corporal Punishment Research | last = Farrell | first = Colin | date=February 2016|access-date=April 4, 2016}}</ref>