Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the former White House press secretary, visited the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba Linda on Wednesday, where she discussed her ongoing progress to reform Arkansas’s education system.
Sanders, during a nearly hour-long conversation at the presidential library on Sept. 3, said she believes education holds the key to changing the trajectory of her state, which ranks in the bottom half nationwide in terms of high school graduation rates as well as reading and math scores for K-12 education, according to the U.S. News and World Report.
“Everything else hinges on whether or not we give our kids a good foundation, and frankly, we were doing a terrible job,” Sanders, a Republican, said. “Not just in my state, but across the country, we have had a total disservice to our students over the last several decades.
Sanders, 43, was at the library to receive the Nixon Foundation’s “Champion of the American Dream” award, which recognizes leaders who exemplify “ideals of hard work, service to others and an unwavering commitment to the promise of America,” according to the foundation.
Considered a potential 2028 Republican presidential contender, Sanders said she’d like to be known as the “education governor” and sees herself as a national leader for what conservative policy should look like.
The Arkansas governor highlighted her work on education reform with the LEARNS Act, a 2023 state law that made significant changes to the state’s education system, including to personnel policies around teacher employment and pay, school choice vouchers, and graduation requirements.
“We had to have a total (education) overhaul. I like to say we were ‘one big beautiful bill’ before that existed,” said Sanders, referring to the massive tax breaks and spending cuts bill the president signed into law earlier this year.
Sanders — during the conversation moderated by California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton — reflected on her career in politics and upbringing in a political family. Sanders is the daughter of Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel and former Arkansas governor.
She said part of her leadership success comes from “being a mom.”
“I’m a big believer that every kid can learn when given the right tools and right environment. And that’s gonna look different for every single student,” Sanders said. “I only have three kids, and I can see in my own house they all need different things; they all learn differently. We can’t expect that a one-size-fits-all school system is going to work for every student in our state or in the country.”
“I could have had a much easier, quieter life, but because I am a parent to a 13, 11, and 10-year-old, I wanted to do something that mattered,” Sanders said, referring to her work in politics. “I wanted to do something that made a difference not just in my state but across the country.”
The 47th governor of Arkansas and the first woman to serve in that role, Sanders is running for reelection in 2026. She previously served as White House press secretary from 2017 to 2019, during President Donald Trump’s first term.
When asked about future plans for her political career, Sanders said her biggest job is being a mom to her three kids.