By Caleb Taylor

What are the differences between state and federal constitutional law? How do lawyers use state constitutions to protect their clients? How do state laws differ from those at the federal level in protecting individual rights?

Come learn the answers to these questions and more from Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Justin Pearson in a virtual event “Our State is Freer Than Yours: How State Constitutions Protect Individual Rights  on March 4th at 4 p.m. sponsored by the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics, Economics Arkansas and the Institute for Justice.

Pearson was the lead attorney in a successful 2016 case that taxi cab permit applicants to “prove they would not take customers away from Little Rock’s only existing taxi company.” Pulaski County Circuit Court ruled in favor of  Pearson’s client, Ken Leininger, saying that Little Rock’s city code violated the Arkansas Constitution, which prohibits the government from creating a private monopoly.

The Little Rock Board of Directors later granted Leininger’s request for seven new taxi cab permits.

During the event, Pearson will discuss how he was able to rely on a provision in the Arkansas Constitution that does not exist in most states.

Concepts from this session can be tied to for teaching Civics, U.S. Government, Business, Entrepreneurship, and other courses in the social studies content area. The event is open to all, and educators attending this session will receive 1 hour of professional development credit and free resources to take back to their classrooms.

You can register for the event .

By Caleb Taylor

Are you a teacher still needing professional development this summer? Are you looking for resources to prepare you for the unique challenges the upcoming school year will bring? The Relevant, Engaging, Activity-Based Learning (REAL) Conference hosted annually by Economics Arkansas is going virtual this year, and bringing together speakers from around Arkansas and the United States to help you prepare for the upcoming year.

ACRE Program Coordinator Terra Aquia and ACRE Scholar and BT����Assistant Professor of Economics Dr. Jeremy Horpedahl will be presenting at this year’s virtual Relevant, Engaging, Activity-Based Learning (REAL) Conference hosted annually by Economics Arkansas on July 22-23. Horpedahl will be presenting the Time Well Spent lesson and activity module for Arkansas teachers. This lesson helps students explore an alternate way of thinking about the “cost” of any object: the effort that is “hidden” underneath a dollar bill. Students learn about how the price and quality of goods and services has changed over time, and provides strategies to study those changes.

Aquia will be debuting the new Personal Finance curriculum developed by BT����Professor of Finance Dr. Michael Casey. During the activity, teachers will learn about building wealth through saving and investing, managing debt, and calculating interest rates on saving and investing as well as on debt like loans and credit cards. 

Teachers can earn professional development credits and other incentives for attending various sessions throughout the event.

Those interested can register for the REAL Conference . Registration is free for all Pre K-12 educators and administrators.

To be notified about upcoming educational workshops and new resource offerings, visit our website or sign up for the email list here: /acre/resources-for-teachers/

How do poor countries become rich countries? What can we learn about economics by thinking in terms of time instead of money?

Answers to these questions and more will be the topics of presentations by ACRE experts at the hosted by Economics Arkansas on July 18th and 19th at Pinnacle View Middle School in Little Rock.

The conference offers Arkansas pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade teachers the opportunity to earn professional development hours and explore curriculum ideas while hearing from a wide variety of experts from business, government and academia on economics and personal finance topics.

ACRE Scholar and BT����Assistant Professor of Economics Jeremy  Horpedahl will be presenting from 1:15 p.m. to 2:10 p.m. on July 18th about “Money, Time and Happiness: How Economists Measure the World.”

ACRE Policy Analyst Mavuto Kalulu and ACRE Program Coordinator Terra Aquia will present from 1:15 p.m. to 2:10 p.m. on July 19th about “How do Poor Countries Become Rich Countries?”

Aquia will be present both days of the conference to meet with teachers, offer resources for classes, and answer questions about opportunities to do more with ACRE.

Economics Arkansas is a non-profit organization founded in 1962 to promote economic literacy in Arkansas.

Registration is still open for this event. To register, click .