Education: Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

State takes over Mineral Springs School District

Max Brantley — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:12:00 -0500

State Education Director Tom Kimbrell has ordered state takeover of the Mineral Springs-Saratoga School District, including dissolving of the school board, because of money problems.

The release:

Arkansas Education Commissioner Dr. Tom Kimbrell today exercised his authority under state law to dissolve the school board of the Mineral Springs School District.

The action was taken to immediately move toward stabilizing the finances and management of the troubled district in Howard County. The district is facing a severe budget deficit and does not have sufficient cash flow to finish the district’s fiscal year.

"This action was necessary to keep Mineral Springs public schools operating and serving students despite the district's extreme financial difficulties," Dr. Kimbrell said. “Our number one concern is the education of the students in this community. For the future of the district, students and the staff, state action had to be taken now.”

Dr. Kimbrell and other key ADE staff arrived in Mineral Springs this morning to inform acting superintendent, Bill Blackwood, of the changes in district governance. Blackwood has agreed to stay on board until Kimbrell appoints a new superintendent.

Steps have been taken to secure school records and to ensure district operations will continue uninterrupted.

The State Board placed the district in fiscal distress in December, 2012. Under the Omnibus Quality Education Act of 2003, the education commissioner has authority to exercise a state takeover of districts in fiscal distress that don't adequately address their problems.

You might recall the district had its previous superintendent suspended last fall after the Education Department discovered it was operating a phantom high school at Saratoga. The district in Howard County has about 500 students. Blackwood came out of retirement this school year to act as interim for the district, which recently accepted 11 teacher resignations because of money troubles.

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Travel day here

Max Brantley — Sun, 12 May 2013 06:00:00 -0500

I'm going to be out of pocket most of the day winding my way home. So proceed at your own risk and speed. Not much to report this morning;

* SCHOOL CHOICE MEANS WHAT? A good rundown in Stephens Media on another poorly constructed law (see the handgun "journey" law) that appears to raise far more questions than it answers. It's the cobbled up compromise to preserve "school choice," or the system that has been heavily used to allow children to flee school districts unacceptable to their parents for a variety of reasons — often race, sometimes football, sometimes class, sometimes even academic reasons. I like the legal theory that, since Arkansas fought so hard to ignore the dictates of Brown v. Board of Education and still has a shameful legacy to show for it, that transfers simply to live in a more agreeable racial setting ought to continue to be suspect. Antonin Scalia and the Billionaire Boys Club might disagree.

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School choice: Court asks if the old law is now moot

Max Brantley — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:14:00 -0500

The Arkansas legislature just passed a new school choice law to replace one contested in federal court in a case that began over students who wanted to transfer from Malvern to whiter schools in Magnet Cove.

Is that old law now moot? That's the question the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals posed today in a brief order asking for supplemental briefs in the case:

The court believes that supplemental briefing would be helpful in this case in light of the Arkansas legislature's repeal of the Arkansas Public School Choice Act of 1989 and passage of the Public School Choice Act of 2013. Parties and intervenors, and any interested amici, are directed to submit simultaneous supplemental briefs of no more than 15 pages due May 22, addressing whether this appeal is moot in light of the enactment of the Public School Choice Act of 2013.

Briefs should address, among other points of interest to the authors, whether the conduct challenged in the complaint continues under the new law, see N.E. Fla. Chapter of Assoc. Gen. Contractors v. City of Jacksonville, 508 U.S. 656, 662 & n.3 (1993), the application of the "voluntary cessation doctrine," see, e.g., Northeastern Florida, 508 U.S. at 661-62, City of Mesquite v. Aladdin's Castle, Inc., 455 U.S. 283, 289 (1982), and, if the appeal is moot, the appropriateness of vacatur of the district court's judgment. See, e.g., U.S. Bancorp Mortgage Co. v. Bonner Mall Partnership, 513 U.S. 18 (1994).

A federal judge had said the old Arkansas law, which prohibited transfers that contributed to resegregation, didn't meet race-blind dictates of the U.S. Supreme Court. In in the interim, the thousands of children already using the choice program were allowed to stay at the transfer districts.

The legislature passed compromise legislation. It allows free choice, with some asterisks. 1) There's a cap on transfers of 3 percent of enrollment; 2) districts can opt out of choice if they say they are "subject to the desegregation order or mandate of a federal court or agency remedying the effects of past racial segregation.”

Several schools districts, such as El Dorado and Camden Fairview, have already served notice that they will opt out of choice. These are districts that have long contended that free choice would cause resegregation. Other districts are considering an opt-out. School districts in Pulaski County remain enmeshed in a desegregation case, particularly the Pulaski County Special School District, which has yet to be declared "unified," or desegregated. UPDATE: These four districts have officially submitted opt-out resolutions — Blytheville, Camden-Fairview, El Dorado and Hope. The El Dorado school board's resolution is typical of what can be expected.

A larger question looms, I'm told, about what exactly the opt-out provision means. How recent must a district have been in court? One lawyer who's active in school law has even argued that the entire state, given the mandate to end segregation. The four districts that have already asked to opt out all cite the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision and the 1969 directive from the federal Department of Health Education and Welfare to end segregated schools. These antecedents apply, at least arguably, to any district in the state.

At a minimum, the ambiguity of the law is certain to prompt school board discussions — and likely some lawsuits — in the future. Parents might have cause to seek intervention for or against choice when administrators, for political reasons, make decisions with which they disagree. Springdale is a particular sore spot. It's never been involved in a school desegregation lawsuit, but its leaders have long feared it could lose hundreds of students to neighboring school districts fleeing Springdale's rising Latino population.

The law provides no review process on these opt-out requests. The state Education director apparently is merely expected to accept them. Else that state official take the risk of being seen as moving back into the state's well-established history of abetting segregation.

Meanwhile, still, there's the old law. Some legislators had favored waiting for a decision there before moving ahead with this year's legislation. My education sources say it's generally believed that the old law is moot thanks to the new law and that the 8th Circuit will never rule on the lower court's ruling on the old law.

But that's what briefs and decisions are for. The wheels of justice are grinding.

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Imboden superintendent: Disputes accounts on gay graduation speaker, says no outside speakers in future

Max Brantley — Sun, 05 May 2013 10:01:43 -0500

From Imboden Live this sleepy Sunday comes breaking news over the viral story about TV producer Bryant Huddleston's complaint that a plan to have him speak at graduation of his alma mater, Imboden's Sloan-Hendrix High School, was scrapped because he's gay.

School Superintendent Mitch Walton has issued a statement posted at the website, which triggered this news event in the first place. In short, he says everybody has it wrong and Imboden will never again have outside commercement speakers. The statement:

Sloan-Hendrix has had individuals to speak at graduation in the past. Contrary to what has been said, no invitation was extended this year to anyone. As superintendent, I have the authority to decide about who the speaker will be or whether we have a speaker at all. The school board does not vote on speakers for graduation.

This year, Mr. Steve Huddleston, a board member, suggested his son as a speaker. Bryant Huddleston graduated from Sloan-Hendrix in 1990 and went on to success in the entertainment industry. He was never invited by me to be the graduation speaker. After visiting informally with board members, no agreement was reached as to who should be invited to speak. Therefore, my decision was to do what had been discussed in the past—to discontinue the use of outside speakers and thereby shorten an already lengthy graduation program.

Sloan-Hendrix has exceptional graduates. Graduation this year and in the future will feature only student speakers. Graduation is a celebration of the accomplishments of Sloan- Hendrix students and a time to let those students shine for their families and the community at large. We welcome the presence of everyone in the community to share in this event.

Sincerely,
Mitch Walton
Superintendent Sloan-Hendrix School District

Well. You can read past items about this here and also here and decide if this is artful dodging of what's become a national topic.

Bryant Huddleston commented on Facebook:

I read it over the phone to my father. He blew out my right ear from laughter

I also will add some relative links about past practice on graduation speakers.

In 2005, a state representative, David Cook.

In 2006, the man who's now head of the state Education Department, Tom Kimbrell.

In 2007, a Pocahontas doctor.

In 2009, a minister from the Imboden Church of Christ.

In 2010, an official from Williams Baptist College.

In 2011, a director of communication for Entergy Services.

In 2012, Paul Austin, an Imboden native and director of the Arkansas Humanities Council.

Don't know about 2008. Maybe somebody tried to sneak some gay in that year, too, and no agreement could be reached.

PS — "visiting informally with school board members." If two members were present in any discussions — formal or informal — the superintendent was in violation of the state open meetings law. Round-robin conversations to avoid the open meetings law can also be problematic when decisions are reached in such a fashion.

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Legislature today: Abortion; school elections

Max Brantley — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:09:00 -0500

From the legislature this afternoon:

* FETUS FRENZY: By a 19-11 vote, the Senate today approved a bill aimed at stopping state funding to Planned Parenthood. The bill would restrict spending on any agency that refers or otherwise countenances abortion and the sponsor made it clear in committee that was the purpose — to punish Planned Parenthood, one reason that the bill is constitutionally suspect. The practical effect is to stop spending on some sex education programs aimed at preventing HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.

UPDATE: See jump for Planned Parenthood's response to the vote. But note particularly this part:

This bill is much broader than other state efforts to restrict women’s health funding. If enacted this legislation could prohibit public funds through the state for not only doctors who provide abortion, but anyone that refers for abortion, or contracts with an entity which does. That means, domestic violence shelters or rape crisis centers that provide referrals for abortion could be in danger of losing funding.

Jason Rapert and them, who worship the 2nd Amendment, kindly don't like the 1st Amendment when it comes to talking about stuff they don't like.

* SCHOOL ELECTIONS: The House today defeated legislation to move school elections to November. The vote was 32-42 and three not voting.

School elections are now held in September and generally restricted to school issues. Turnout is invariably light, even on tax increases, when compared with regular elections. School officials like the separate elections because they tend to draw only people who follow schools closely. The fear — or hope in some cases — is that broad participation in school elections in the years in which regular elections occur will bring reflexive anti-tax votes from people who have no children in schools.

The bill passed the Senate earlier.

* NONPARTISAN PROSECUTORS: The Senate approved a bill originating in the House to have prosecuting attorneys run for office on a non-partisan basis.

* AS CAPITOL ZONING TURNS: The bill by Republican Nate Bell of Mena to abolish the Capitol Zoning District Commission because he doesn't like its fence rule will be up in committee tomorrow. The downtown preservation community is organizing to protest this incursion on sound planning. Meanwhile, at least the hold on the commission's appropriation has been lifted and approved by both houses.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD RELEASE

Nearly fifty Planned Parenthood supporters lined the stairs to the Arkansas Senate Chambers today, yet the Senate went ahead and passed a broad measure to eliminate funding for STI and HIV prevention programs.

“Today’s vote is extremely disappointing for the thousands of teens who count on us for life saving prevention programs,” said Planned Parenthood of the Heartland President and CEO Jill June. “It’s disheartening that some extreme lawmakers would rather make a political statement against Planned Parenthood than support these vital prevention programs for our young people.”

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland receives two grants for HIV and Syphilis prevention programs and outreach. The programs provide medically accurate, age-appropriate information, including information about abstinence, to 2,000 women, men and teens. The grant funding is used solely for these important preventive education programs.

This bill is much broader than other state efforts to restrict women’s health funding. If enacted this legislation could prohibit public funds through the state for not only doctors who provide abortion, but anyone that refers for abortion, or contracts with an entity which does. That means, domestic violence shelters or rape crisis centers that provide referrals for abortion could be in danger of losing funding.

“Politics should never be put ahead of the health and well-being of our families. Arkansas deserves better than this,” concluded June.

Planned Parenthood has been a trusted health care provider and educator in Arkansas for more than 40 years.

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Arkansas schools held in 'distress'

Max Brantley — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:38:33 -0500

The Arkansas state Board of Education is meeting today. So far, it has found the Lee County and Strong-Huttig school districts in academic distress and the Hughes district in fiscal distress.

I didn't see the meeting, but a spectator said the Board also gave the Covenant Keepers charter school at 8300 Geyer Springs Road in Little Rock a three-year renewal for grades 6-8, but it will close its high school. It's going to relocate to the former Dreamland charter school facility and report to the board on progress in October. Covenant Keepers was placed on probationary status last year after a financial audit.

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School vouchers don't work

Max Brantley — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 05:15:13 -0500

You just have to follow Diane Ravitch if you live in this land of Stepford legislators who accept pronouncements from the Billionaire Boys Club school reform lobby as holy writ. If a Walton says it — or somebody paid by the Waltons — it must be so. There is another side.

Speaking of the Waltons:

They finance a school up at the University of Arkansas's Walton branch campus in Fayetteville dedicated to churning out support for the BBC's anti-union, pro-voucher, pro-charter, pro-obsessive-testing political movement.

So it's interesting to read Ravitch's conclusion that school vouchers don't work when her opinion is based on research by Patrick Wolf of the Walton think tank at UAF (he gets an endowed chair, thanks to Walton money, in "school choice," if that gives you any idea what he's expected to favor). Ravitch:

Now that 17 states have authorized vouchers to “save kids from failing schools,” it is time to review the evidence from Milwaukee, which has had vouchers for 22 years.

The “independent evaluator” of the Milwaukee and D.C. voucher programs is Patrick J. Wolf of the University of Arkansas. As we learned during school choice week earlier this year, Wolf is a strong supporter of school choice and he even wrote an editorial saying that his home state of Minnesota needs more school choice because it was in danger of falling behind Arkansas in doing so. How much more independent can an evaluator be? It is perhaps also noteworthy that the University of Arkansas is generously funded by Arkansas’s biggest philanthropy, the Walton Foundation, which pours millions every year into charters and vouchers and anything that has the possibility of undermining public schools.

Not even Wolf’s evaluations have shown any test score advantage for students who get vouchers, whether in DC or Milwaukee.

Fair is fair, Luke. Why not pay to have Ravitch come down to talk when you're running some of the Waltons' school bills in the Arkansas legislature. You can afford it.

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Speaking of Jim Dotson: Then there's school governance

Max Brantley — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:57:00 -0500

Events today reminded me of another piece of legislation by Rep. Jim Dotson of Bentonville, who sponsored the resolution approved today affirming the legislature's support for gay discrimination in federal law and the Arkansas Constitution.

He's also lead sponsor of HB 2290, which would strip the governor of sole power to appoint the nine members of the state Board of Education and give the majority of appointments to legislative leaders — three each to the House and Senate leaders.

The law would immediately oust the current board. What's the rush?

The Republican sponsorship might reflect nothing more than work in service to the Billionaire Boys Club's desire to take over school regulation in Arkansas, particularly by opening the door wide to charter schools. Walton money is powering the "school reform" effort. Dotson is from the hometown of Walmart heir Jim Walton, the leader of the effort to remake public schools through charter schools and other options aimed at breaking up conventional public schools, particularly in districts like Little Rock with stronger teacher organizations.

The state Board has approved most charter school applications, but has moved judiciously and toughly in recent times. The Waltons' paid lobbyists want unfettered approval of charters, arguing that the failures will become self-evident and be closed.

There's a secondary issue on this Board of Education takeover. Some opponents of the legislation suspect that the motivation is also to force Gov. Beebe to pick and choose among the existing membership, two-thirds of them his appointees, when naming three of the nine members.

Is the intent to make him NOT pick Jay Barth, the Hendrix professor, as a continuing member of the board? Barth's appointment met criticism from conservative Christian (Republican) political activists because he is gay.

I asked Dotson and Hester, also from Bentonville and also a lead sponsor, if Barth's sexual orientation is any factor in the desire to reshape the board. Dotson says no. He hasn't responded to my question about whether he had ever talked with the Family Council or anyone else about the sexual orientation of a member of the state Board of Education. I haven't heard back from Hester.

UPDATE: Dotson says he doesn't even known any of the current state Board members. His bill, he said, is a "good government bill." In response to my question, he said:

I did not discuss the bill with Family Council before introducing it, but they seem to be one of the groups who like it. You will have to speak with them directly to see why. I welcome any support for one of my bills I can find, are you suggesting I ask them to come speak for it?

UPDATE II: Hester said he presumed anyone appointed by Gov. Beebe was capable and he was "not aware" of who I might be talking about.

Sexual politics aside, this is a bad idea. It would make, I'm told, Arkansas the only state where membership of an education commission is controlled by the legislative branch. It would put an executive agency under legislative control.

Gubernatorial appointments to this particular board have worked particularly well over the years, from Clinton to Huckabee to Beebe, with many others in between. They've been an uncommon list of dedicated, hard-working and unpaid public servants, even those I've had occasion to disagree with philosophically (and, yes, I also mean to praise Luke Gordy, now a paid lobbyist for the Walton-financed school movement).

This is a bad idea on the merits; terrible if even a scintilla of homophobia is involved. School administrators and other school people formed a coalition to force a compromise on the Walton charter school regulation bill — moving it to state Education Department employees rather than a legislatively controlled independent commission as originally tried. If they don't form similar opposition on this bill, they'll see a change in governance that will do a whole lot more than effectively put in place the legislatively controlled structure they wanted in the first place for charter school approval and review. Legislative meddling in the Education Department will become epidemic.

It's uncertain when Dotson will try to get the bill approved in committee, but it's on the Education Committee agenda.

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Board votes to close Weiner High

Leslie Newell Peacock — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:46:27 -0500

The State Board of Education voted 5-2 this morning to close Weiner High School, which includes grades 7-12. The Harrisburg School District had petitioned to close the campus.

The Harrisburg School Board asked the state board to close the Weiner school, annexed into the Harrisburg district in 2010, and move its grades to Harrisburg campuses to save money.

The board also voted, unanimously, to approve a conversion charter in the Bauxite School District. Miner Academy will serve grades 6-12. Follow the ADE blog here.

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Laurence Alexander nominated as UAPB chancellor

David Ramsey — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:02:15 -0600

Concluding a nationwide search, University of Arkansas System President Donald Bobbitt will nominate Laurence Alexander, an associate dean at the University of Florida, to be chancellor at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. If the board of trustees approves, Alexander would begin in July. Press release after the jump.

LITTLE ROCK - University of Arkansas System President Dr. Donald R. Bobbitt will nominate Dr. Laurence B. Alexander, associate dean of the Graduate School and director of the Office of Minority Programs at the University of Florida, to serve as the next chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

Alexander was among the finalists in a nationwide search for a new chancellor conducted by Bobbitt and an advisory search committee of UAPB faculty, staff, alumni and supporters. Bobbitt will recommend Alexander for the position at a special meeting of the Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas that will be conducted by phone later this week.

“I’m pleased to nominate Dr. Laurence Alexander, who I believe has the right combination of experience and enthusiasm to help shape a positive, successful future for UAPB,” Bobbitt said. “Dr. Alexander understands the important role that UAPB plays in the higher education portfolio of our state and in the Pine Bluff community. It’s a university that has grown and developed throughout the past two decades, and I am excited about the leadership Dr. Alexander will provide to help the campus and its students, faculty and staff achieve at the highest levels. While we know there will be challenges ahead, I look forward to working with Dr. Alexander to ensure a successful future for UAPB.”

Alexander, who is a distinguished teaching scholar and a professor in the Department of Journalism at Florida, chairs the Graduate Curriculum Committee and directs more than 20 student development and funding programs, including the UF McKnight Doctoral Fellowships and the National Science Foundation LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate.

He also leads the Graduate School’s program in recruitment, retention, success and graduation of underrepresented minority students. Previously, he served as chair of the Department of Journalism at the University of Florida and coordinator of journalism in the English Department at the University of New Orleans.

“It’s a high honor to be nominated as the next chancellor of UAPB,” Alexander said. “This university has a proud history as an HBCU that’s committed to student success and academic excellence. I am humbled by the nomination and encouraged by the outstanding opportunity facing UAPB, the Pine Bluff community and the state of Arkansas. I look forward to working with the faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community and state leaders to advance the institution to the next level of academic excellence.”

A native of New Orleans, Alexander received a bachelor’s degree in drama and communications from the University of New Orleans, master’s degree in journalism and communications from the University of Florida, Juris Doctor from Tulane University and Ph.D. in higher education from Florida State University.

He and his wife, Veronica, also a native of New Orleans, have three sons, Brandon, David and Tyler. David and Tyler are college students and Brandon, a Santa Fe College academic adviser, and his wife, Vanessa, are the parents of Alexander’s grandchildren, Jonathan and Allie. Veronica Alexander currently serves as the director of human resources for the University of Florida Foundation.

“My family and I are excited to get to know everyone at the university and in the Pine Bluff community, and we are anxious to join the traditions of the family of supporters of the Golden Lions,” Alexander said.

Upon approval of the board of trustees, Alexander will succeed Dr. Calvin Johnson, who has served as interim chancellor of UAPB since April 2012. It is anticipated that Alexander will begin his tenure by July 1.

“I’m grateful to Dr. Calvin Johnson for his guidance and steady leadership of UAPB during the past year,” Bobbitt said. “He has served UAPB, Pine Bluff and our state with honor and distinction throughout his outstanding career.”

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LRSD hosts meet n' greets with superintendent short list candidates

David Koon — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:31:37 -0600

Starting today at 12:30, the Little Rock School District will be hosting the first of four one-hour meet-and-greet sessions with the top candidates for LRSD superintendent, with the general public encouraged to attend. The session will follow a morning of candidate interviews with the Little Rock School Board.

Today's session will be with Dr. Connie Hathorn, who has been superintendent of the Youngstown Ohio Public School District since 2011. There will be three more sessions with individual candidates on Feb 26, Feb. 27 and March 4, which each public session beginning at 12:30. The meet and greets will take place in the board room of the Little Rock School District Administration building at 810 West Markham.

Following the public session, each candidate will meet with parents and PTA representatives for an hour, followed by an hour session with teachers and Teachers' Union representatives.

Full press release with more details on the jump.

Meet and Greet Schedule for LRSD Superintendent Candidates

Monday, February 25, 2013, the Little Rock School Board will begin interviewing candidates recommended for superintendent by the search firm McPherson and Jacobson. After a unanimous vote, the Board agreed to interview the top four candidates selected by the search firm from an initial pool of nine potential superintendents. Individual interviews will be conducted Monday-Wednesday, February 25-27, 2013 and Monday, March 4, 2013.

The schedule for each candidate is as follows:

Monday, February 25th - Dr. Connie Hathorn, Youngstown, Ohio Public Schools

Superintendent since 2011
5,900 students
Received doctorate from University of Iowa
Former associate superintendent at Youngstown (2010) and former executive director of student support and 19-year veteran of Akron City School District

Tuesday, February 26th - Dr. Stefanie Phillips, Clayton County Public Schools, Georgia
Deputy Superintendent since 2009
52,000 students
Received doctorate from University of Southern California
Former deputy superintendent of 34,000 student Chino Valley, California Public Schools

Wednesday, February 27th - Dr. Dexter Suggs, Indianapolis Public Schools
Chief of Staff since July 2012
31,000 students
Received doctorate from Indiana Wesleyan University
Former chief information officer, former high school and middle school principal and former coach

Monday, March 4th - Dr. Walter Milton, Springfield, Illinois Schools
Superintendent since 2007
15,000 students
Received doctorate from University of Buffalo
Former superintendent in Flint, Michigan and Fallsburg Central School District in New York

Following a tour of schools, the candidates will have a meet and greet with LRSD parents, the general public, media, PTA Advisory Council, certified/non-certified employees, and union representatives on each of the above dates. The meet and greets will take place in the board room of the Little Rock School District Administration building, 810 West Markham, according to this daily schedule:

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. - General Public and Media
4:00 - 5:00 p.m. - PTA Advisory Council and Parents
5:00 - 6:00 p.m. - Certified/Non-certified Employees and
Union Representatives

In addition to inviting input from the above-referenced stakeholders, the LRSD Board also appointed a 12-member advisory committee, representing a cross section of the community, to help in the selection process.

McPherson and Jacobson lead consultant Loe Dunn says the firm vetted all candidates by talking to references and getting additional references from those listed as references by the candidates. Additionally, candidates were screened based on a list of criteria and preferences as expressed by board members and a group of community stakeholders. Those criteria included requirements for candidates to have a doctorate, progressive experience in an urban school district and the ability to improve academic performance and student achievement, to name a few.

LRSD Board president Dianne Curry says she is confident in the process and believes the District will find the best fit for its new superintendent. "Next to setting policy, this is one of the most important decisions a school board can make," said Curry. "Not only are we looking for an executive with a proven track record, the Board is interested in someone who will be able to provide the necessary leadership to implement the Board's goals and who is a good communicator who will work well with students, parents, the community and other key stakeholders."

About McPherson and Jacobson:

Endorsed by the Arkansas School Boards Association, McPherson and Jacobson is an Omaha, Nebraska-based executive recruiting firm which boasts of being the largest educational consultancy firm to provide services in Arkansas, placing more than 85% of the state's superintendents. Since 1991, the firm has provided expert assistance with hundreds of local and national searches.

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Blacks punished more often in schools

Max Brantley — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 09:16:37 -0600

A new report out from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. It's a familiar story for anyone who's followed desegregation lawsuits in Pulaski County, the reports by advocates for ending corporal punishment in schools and just about any statistical measure you can find (not every district is the same, a key finding in this report):

Black students in Arkansas schools are more likely to be suspended and receive corporal punishment than their white counterparts, according to a new report from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF). In 2012 black students were given out-of-school suspension more than five times as often as white students, in-school-suspension almost three times as often, and corporal punishment almost twice as often.

Arkansas ranks 15th in the nation in the use of out-of-school suspension for all students, and 13th in the gap between black and white students in out-of-school suspensions. When students are not in school, they miss out on educational opportunities. School disciplinary policies that disproportionately keep students of color out of school reduce their opportunities to learn and increase gaps in educational achievement. According to the report, “Keeping Kids in Class: Fixing Racial Disparities in School Discipline,” Arkansas schools rely far too often on disciplinary approaches that keep too many of our students out of school, thus limiting their opportunity to learn.

Rich Huddleston, executive director of AACF, says the study’s findings are worrisome.

“Of course we don’t want to see minority students being punished more often than their white peers,” Huddleston says. “There’s another issue here and that’s the use of out-of-school suspension, period. When students aren’t in school, there’s no way they can learn. We have to find better solutions to these disciplinary issues and make sure all kids have an equal opportunity to learn.”

According to the report, some districts that are similar in terms of their size, income, and percentage of minority students have very different rates of discipline disparity. This raises serious questions about whether the disciplinary practices in some districts unfairly treat minority students. It also casts doubt on any assumption that different suspension rates between groups merely reflect differences in their behavior, which is consistent with findings in other studies.

Jerri Derlikowski, director of education policy and finance at AACF and the report’s author, says there are steps Arkansas should take to reduce these disparities and move beyond out-of-school suspension as a method of disciplining students.

“The good news is there are plenty of steps we can take,” Derlikowski says. “First of all out-of-school suspension should be used only as a last resort. Instead of sending kids home we should offer rehabilitative services in their schools. We need to make sure we adequately fund behavioral and mental health services in school, and replace many zero-tolerance policies with reasoned and appropriate disciplinary measures that keep kids in the classroom. We should also try to move away from abusive discipline techniques like corporal punishment.”

Why is this an important issue? According to the National Opportunity to Learn Campaign, suspensions and expulsions can lead to lower graduation rates. Students with three or more suspensions by their sophomore year are also five times more likely to drop out than other students.

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Report dismisses complaint about religion in Conway schools, suggests policy on visits

Max Brantley — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 17:01:19 -0600

I've reported periodically on a topic of current controversy in Conway Public Schools. Superintendent Greg Murry temporarily halted campus visits by local church groups after a complaint from the Freedom from Religion Foundation that visitors were using the visits for open evangelizing. Several of the groups disputed that.

Murry ignored his original advice from Arkansas lawyers and brought in to advise him a Texas group, the Liberty Institute, which fights to advance the cause of religion in the public arena.

The Liberty Institute has now filed its report and a recommended visitation policy for Murry to present to the Conway School Board (which has been supportive of religious visitation.)

* THE PROPOSED RULES: Read them here. Visitors would be allowed for approved visitors on a list and, at the middle and high school levels, schools officials would attempt to the extent possible to segregate visitors from the general student body.

* THE LIBERTY INSTITUTE REPORT: It concludes the existing Conway open access visitor policy is constitutional, that the Freedom from Religion Foundation had been misinformed about open religious activities at the Carl Stuart Middle School and that religious groups had not been given unique access, as the complaint said. Nonetheless, it recommended a small change in the visitor policy "to ensure that any confusion as to the nature of the policy is avoided and that the policy cannot be exploited in an unconstitutional manner."

Got it. Nothing to see here. Move along. There is the matter of mothers who've told me — but feared being identified in public — that direct religious proselytizing HAS occurred before their children in the Conway schools. Perhaps the attention to the issue and a restatement of guidelines that are neither hostile to nor establishing of religion will quell the fear I've heard from them. Given Conway's history and the influence of megachurches, that might be a touch optimistic.

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Segregation dooms education 'reform'

Max Brantley — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 06:44:16 -0600

No, the headline doesn't refer to racial segregation, except to the extent it's the de facto result of economic segregation.

Important reading in the Washington Post, based on an article in The Nation, for those who are deciding whether it's good to give a free pass in controlled enrollment charter schools and voucher programs that encourage economic segregation. These programs leave remnant public schools disproportionately comprised of low-income students from struggling families.

Researchers know a lot about how various factors associated with income level affect a child’s learning: parents’ educational attainment; how parents read to, play with, and respond to their children; the quality of early care and early education; access to consistent physical and mental health services and healthy food. Poor children’s limited access to these fundamentals accounts for a good chunk of the achievement gap, which is why conceiving of it instead as an opportunity gap makes a lot more sense.

But we rarely discuss the impact of concentrated poverty—and of racial and socioeconomic segregation—on student achievement. James Coleman’s widely cited 1966 report “Equality of Educational Opportunity” has drawn substantial attention to the influence of family socioeconomic status on a child’s academic achievement. However, as Richard Kahlenberg, senior fellow at the Century Foundation, notes

Until very recently, the second finding, about the importance of reducing concentrations of school poverty, has been consciously ignored by policymakers, despite publication of study after study that confirmed Coleman’s findings.

The situation grows worse.

This trend frustrates efforts to improve educational achievement among low-income and minority students. Concentrated poverty plays a key role in explaining why poor white students perform better on tests, on average, than African-American students with similar family incomes. Not only are white children much less likely than their black peers to live in poverty (12.5 percent versus 37 percent), among those who are poor, only 12 percent of white children live in concentrated poverty, while nearly half of poor African-American children do. Black students are thus much more likely to attend schools in which most of their classmates are also poor. It isn’t hard to imagine the impact of this divide: black students disproportionately lack peers whose parents went to college and who take for granted that they will go; their schools and the pathways to them are more likely to be dangerous; their PTAs are comprised of parents with little political power to get the school system to meet their demands; and too many parents are overwhelmed by factors that render help with homework a major challenge—multiple or late-night jobs, cramped and unhealthy housing, lack of heat, and insufficient food.

Breaking up concentrated poverty and reducing segregation at the neighborhood and school levels offers tremendous potential. As Kahlenberg points out, “on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, low-income fourth grade students given the chance to attend more-affluent schools in math are two years ahead of low-income students stuck in high-poverty schools.”

Think on it.

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Education notes: Pray for Conway and Teach for America

Max Brantley — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 10:07:08 -0600

A couple of education items;

* CHURCH AND THE CONWAY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: I wrote last night about a new batch of internal documents from the Conway School District relative to Superintendent Greg Murry's effort to continue to allow numerous church groups to visit with school kids at lunch hour. As I mentioned the documents mentioned both an effort to prevent proselytizing and some evidence that it has occurred despite rules to the contrary (a good reason perhaps to think hard about opening campuses to visitors, for religion or other causes, at the lunch hour). But I forgot to put up a link to the documents. Here it is.

* TEACH FOR AMERICA: A CRITIC: Care about public schools, "school reform," the ongoing fight by billionaires to impose their education ideology on schools? I highly recommend this from the Washington Post.

It's a long letter from Gary Rubinstein, a proud Teach for America alumnus who's become something of a critic of some aspects of the program to put bright kids with limited training into schools with desperate needs as teachers. Rubinstein also suggests Teach for America and its leader Wendy Kopp have become unquestioning shills for the billionaires' charter schoocl movement and one-note critics of teachers and their unions. He also challenges the cant about charter schools. Kopp responds.

From Rubinstein:

Over the years I’ve been critical of the TFA training model. It’s not that I don’t think it is possible to train teachers, particularly secondary teachers, in five weeks. It’s just that it has to be a very good five weeks, which I still think it isn’t. The student teaching component is just too short with classes that are just too small. But I still support the idea of alternative certification, and have said so even in my ‘anti-TFA’ NPR interview. I also, unlike many TFA critics, am OK with the two year commitment. Though I’d like it to be upped to three years, I can see that maybe two years lures in some people who could teach for a long time after they get hooked on teaching. So two of the largest criticisms of TFA, the short training and the short commitment are not things that I have been complaining about.

... So it was disappointing to me that the theme of the summit, based on who the featured speakers were, was generally about how charter schools were THE answer and how ‘bad’ teachers and unions are THE problem. (And yes, I know that the people who I’m accusing of saying this would quickly deny that they have said this, but, again, actions speak louder than words.) I saw this mainly in the opening and closing ceremonies, particularly during the ‘Waiting For Superman’ reunion panel. In general, the 20 year event left me with a sour taste in my mouth. It felt like TFA was trying to convey the idea that “We figured it out. Now we just have to scale up,” despite the fact that nobody has really conclusively figured ‘it’ out. This reminded me of George W. Bush’s famous 2003 ‘Mission Accomplished’ sign on the aircraft carrier, eight years before the end of the Iraq war. I don’t see much evidence that anyone has really figured out much. ‘High performing’ charter networks have trouble getting consistency within their own schools. Districts where the ideas of ‘accountability’ and ‘choice’ have thrived have only shown success with some very creative math.

... But for me the thing that bothers me most about these reformers is the dishonesty. In the closing ceremony of the 20 year thing I heard [Education Secretary Arne] Duncan say something about how the decision to shut down a large Chicago High School was justified by the miraculous charter school that took its place. After I got home from the summit I did about ten minutes of fact-checking before I learned that this charter school was far from miraculous as they had about a forty percent dropout rate. This inspired my first post that would be called, I guess ‘anti-reform’ though I really think of it as anti-lying.

... As far as charter schools go, you must also be aware of how much attrition they have. As you are married to one of the top executives in KIPP, I have trouble believing that you don’t know this…. The fact is that most ‘high-performing’ charters are ones that manage to get more motivated kids and families and who lose the less motivated ones throughout the years. And the schools that do have the same kids as the neighborhood ‘failing’ school, those schools often have test scores that are extremely low too.

There's lots more. You might prefer Kopp's response, in which she disagrees point by point. It's a dialogue at least. It's not the sort of thing you'll hear when the billionaires hold their self-selected dog-and-pony shows in Arkansas. To insulting six-figure Walton lobbyist Luke Gordy, all real public school employees are self-interested hacks who care only about their paychecks, not kids. The billionaires (several of whom have never put a kid's foot in a public school) are the only people who really care about kids.

Rubinstein's blog has lots of stuff worth considering.

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Careful when you hear about state spending on schools

Max Brantley — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 09:40:59 -0600

A useful article from Wisconsin illustrates how numbers can be massaged to suit political purposes.

In Wisconsin, in support of a continuing push for more spending on private school vouchers, voucher supporters like to say the state spends less on school vouchers than on conventional public schools. It's not true.

By the same token, it was misleading this week when the Arkansas Billionaire Boys Club suggested repeatedly that charter schools in Arkansas — and the voucher program many of them also want to create — receive less state funding than real public schools.

Per pupil spending is greater if 1) You don't count the private money many charter schools receive and, most of all, 2) you count local property taxes in the equation.

Good example is Little Rock, where charter schools receive roughly $6,600 per student from the state. Little Rock School District haters like to note that the district spends nearly $10,000 per student, not counting desegregation funding for magnet schools and interdistrict transfers. Yes, but .... Almost three fourths of that $10,000 comes from the Little Rock property tax. That is not state money, except to the extent its considered such as part of the uniform 25-mill charge against all school districts (not charter schools) for general education funding. Purely state funding of MANY public schools in Arkansas, not just in Little Rock, is lower than the amount given charter schools because of local property tax contributions. Don't say it's all the same thing. It's not. Not unless you fine folks in Gravette would agree to share your local property tax with the fine folks in Little Rock.

I'd like to see some overall calculations done in Arkansas for pure state spending on real public school students versus the amount sent to charter schools. In Wisconsin, private school students in Milwaukee get about $6,400 a year each from the state. About 80 percent of the schools in that state receive less per student in pure state aid.

EARLY WARNING: While we're speaking about Wisconsin and the advent of vouchers .... If they happen here you can bet they'll mimic the experience of Wisconsin — a vast transfer of public tax money to religious schools and the philosophies they espouse.

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School groups fight back against the billionaires

Max Brantley — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:18:00 -0600

A new coalition, the Arkansas Opportunity to Learn Campaign, held a news conference today at the Capitol to forthrightly defend Arkansas education against the agenda pushed yesterday by a group led by some of the wealthiest people in Arkansas, including the Walmart, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Murphy Oil, Dillard Department Stores, Koch Industries and Stephens fortunes. By way of introduction, the new coalition said:

"A diverse group of parents, teachers, education leaders, business owners, civil rights leaders and child advocates touted an education reform agenda Wednesday that is backed by decades of research and based on the real needs of students and communities. Their plan builds on the progress Arkansas has made over the past ten years and stands in stark contrast to the education reform agenda of A+ Arkansas, the pro-privatization coalition funded by many of the state’s wealthiest individuals and out-of-state interest groups."

Indeed, privatization — through quasi-private charter schools without elected school board and, they hope, with less state oversight and through vouchers for private and home schoolers — is the major aim of this group, plus carving off money from the existing resources for their pet projects.

Speakers today had an agenda, too:

* Increased access to high-quality preschool
* Expanded after-school and summer programs
* Continuing improvement in preparation and professional development of teachers and
administrators
* Stronger parent, community, student and school partnerships
* More accessible career and technical education opportunities for students
* Continued high accountability for all schools
* Continued support for high quality education for all students

Here's the group's news release. Here's a list of participants and sponsoring organizations, including the Arkansas Education Association, the Arkansas School Boards Association, administrators' groups and more. Dr. Tom Kimbrell, director of the state Education Department, was a significant participant. He can be seen as carrying Gov. Mike Beebe's views against key legislation pushed by the billionaires' group.

From David Koon:

UPDATE: After the news conference, we chatted with Sen. Joyce Elliott, who is helping lead the new coalition in hopes of heading off efforts to expand charter schools in the state. Asked if she believes grassroots and shoeleather can trump the millions of dollars pro-charter groups can throw at the issue, Elliott said she is "exceedingly confident" that they can.

"If you're not willing to do the work, and use money to do the work for you, you become a little bit less willing to do the hard work and the grassroots work," Elliott said. "On the [pro-charter] side, this is an effort that's happening from the top down. Money can help you do that. As we demonstrated today, we're growing our support from the very bottom up. When you do that, you grow the roots you're going to need for the long haul. I'm extremely confident, because this state has finally gotten to the point that we see what the campaign is across the country. People understand what's going on — this notion of privatizing and corporatizing public education... We're exceedingly confident we can do this. We put this group of folks together, and we just started working on this last Friday. We had this many people show up to show their commitment to public schools. "

During one of yesterday's panels at the Doubletree Summit, panelist T. Willard Fair — an African-American school choice advocate who opened Florida's first charter school — publicly called Arkansas's legislative Black Caucus "cowardly" because they'd refused to meet with Fair and Jeb Bush to discuss the issue. Given the opportunity to respond, Elliott fired back, saying that it was not the Black Caucus' responsibility to care whether Fair was insulted or unhappy. Elliott said that while Fair was "over there with the people with the deep pockets," she and other black legislators were meeting with students, teachers and parents.

"I know it's part of his grandstanding," Elliott said, "but that's what they do: they swoop into states and they grandstand. If he thinks he has the right to demand from African-American legislators how we're going to comport ourselves because he happens to be black, he's sorely mistaken. We were where we chose to be, and we don't have to ask his permission."

PS — Speaking of "cowardly" legislators, did anyone see any of the Walton legislative stooges at this event today. No billionaires to cheer at this one, just working educators.

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The billionaires tout school 'choice'

Max Brantley — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:58:00 -0600

David Koon reports from the panel discussions at the Doubletree Hotel being staged by some of the front groups set up by Jim Walton and other inheritors of great wealth to lobby for their ideas of "school reform."

The most unsettling news today were repeated mentions of the growing apush beyond charter school funding — public money for quasi-private schools operated often by private corporations — to direct voucher support for private schools. Such legislation is going to come up in Arkansas again this year and a UA professor on the payroll of the Walton-created school choice lobbying arm at the family university in Fayetteville was among those touting it today.

The Walton Family Foundation — in another huge coincidence — announced today it had pumped $158 million into school choice in 2012, including $60 million on lobbying organizations ($9 million in Arkansas alone for the organization that sponsored today's panel discussions), and expected to continue that effort this year.

Patrick Wolf, who holds an endowed chair in school reform at UA; Jim Cooper, chair of the state board of Education; Bill Dillard III, scion of the department store family, and Luke Gordy, the Walton family's chief paid lobbyist, were on the first panel. Gordy beat up on the "liberal press," meaning me, for writing about the scant regulation of charter schools. He talked about kids being "held prisoner in schools where they are being underserved." Gordy complained about failure of the state Board of Education to close public schools for academic failure. He didn't mention that, as Board chair, he wrote the previously weak rule on closure for academic reasons that has recently been stiffened. He also didn't list a specific charter school closed for academic reasons, as opposed to management deficiencies, which have been numerous. He also didn't mention that some of the most touted Arkansas charter schools, including one that helped pack the crowd with students today, haven't gained "achieving" status for middle school grades. It is a tough time, after all. Gordy insulted a large group of educators in the meeting by asserting they only cared about themselves, not school children. Wolf touted his own study on the benefits of giving parents money to leave conventional public schools. Dillard said the company faces difficulties in recruitment because of deficiencies in education. He said competition was good for schools.

Coming later the speakers include Democrat-Gazette Publisher Walter Hussman and former Murphy Oil CEO Claiborne Deming.

I can tell you some dedicated school people left the first session steaming. Luke Gordy's broad brush dismissal of virtually anyone who works in education as a self-interested hack uninterested in children was a slap in the face to tens of thousands of hard-working, committed people. I've heard him give that spiel many times myself. He's made so much money working for the Waltons so long, he might even believe it. He also is likely in a bad mood because he currently lacks the votes to move his charter school bill out of committee, I've been further reliably informed. But when you have $9 million to spend, peeling off three votes might be easier than it otherwise would be for mere mortals.

At the second panel, D-G publisher Walter Hussman touted lower costs per student at eStem versus the Little Rock School District. Money is not the issue, but accountability and choice, he said. He urged more testing to compare schools. He said single-letter grading of schools encouraged schools to do better. T. Willard Fair, a charter school advocate from Florida, blasted Arkansas's black legislators for not attending the session and said the argument that charter schools would lead to resegregation was "hogwash." Jim Walton also emphasized lower spending on charter schools — then talked of his support for making funding equitable at charter schools, particularly for construction.

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Group formed to answer billionaires' school push

Max Brantley — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:21:18 -0600

Well, how about this? As you know, the Billionaire Boys Club has a couple of dog-and-pony shows scheduled tomorrow in Little Rock at which Jeb Bush, Jim Walton, Walter Hussman, Bill Dillard and Claiborne (Murphy Oil) Deming will sing the praises of school reform — by their lights. Kill unions. Kill conventional public schools. End careful state oversight of charter schools. Pass out public dollars for home school, virtual schools and anything that isn't a regular public school. And, whatever you do, don't allow elected public officials have any say over any of it.

Well. A group has formed to speak out in opposition to their radical agenda, though I think the heirs' money has already talked loudly in election of the current Republican legislature. News release:

A press conference to promote the advancement of public education for ALL students, rather than radical reforms that will seriously undermine traditional public schools. A group of parents, teachers, administrators, advocates, legislators, and others will discuss Arkansas’ recent progress in improving educational opportunities for all students and the threat posed by recently filed bills such as HB1040, SB104, and SB117.

Many are concerned that the recent push by some members of the business community for a shift toward an unaccountable charter school driven education system is a potentially expensive distraction that threatens to undermine the principles of equity and adequacy that have guided the state’s progress in education over the past decade. Now is not the time to abandon those principles by opening the floodgates for unaccountable and unregulated experiments by removing the oversight of charter schools from the State Board of Education.

WHO: Parents, teachers, administrators, advocates, legislators, and representatives from several organizations including the Arkansas Opportunity to Learn Campaign, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, Rural Community Alliance, Arkansas Education Association, Arkansas Rural Education Association, Arkansas School Boards Association, Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators, Arkansas Public Policy Panel, and others.

WHEN: 1:00-1:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 30, 2013

WHERE: Old Supreme Court Room, State Capitol Building

And, hey, speaking of Jeb Bush. I mentioned the other day some good Florida research on the poor showing of charter schools in Bush's home state. Here's some more reading on the Jeb Bush Florida miracle you won't hear at the Billionaires' revival show, sent along by another Bush doubter.

* A Harvard school paper "The Effects of Early Grade Retention on Student Outcomes over Time: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from Florida," found that, "Regression discontinuity estimates indicate large short-term gains in achievement among retained students and a sharp reduction in the probability of retention in subsequent years. The achievement gains from retention fade out gradually over time...and are statistically insignificant after six years."

* A National Education Policy Center report It found that in Florida, "NAEP performance of grade 4 students was artificially inflated due to the screening out and elimination of the weakest readers by the state's retention policy mandate, particularly Hispanic and Black students, and the presence of smaller numbers of older retained 4th-grade students."

* Palm Beach Post article from November:

Florida has one of the lowest graduation rates in the country, according to preliminary data released this week by the federal government.

* Orlando Sentinel article that evaluates Bush's touting of letter grades for schools. Not pretty.

* And more general summaries from Reuters and also from the National Education Policy Center (again) on Bush "overselling" his school reform. In short. Bush is great at lining up corporate clout. Together, they can create a formidable PR machine (right, Mr. Gordy? Ms. Lee?) The facts just happen to be inconvenient.

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Using tax money to discriminate

Max Brantley — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 06:42:20 -0600

The Arkansas legislature is again expected to debate this year a quasi-school voucher program established in several other states in which dollar-for-dollar tax credits are provided for contributions to nonprofit organizations. The effect is a private school voucher.

Accountability is minimal. Secrecy on how the programs work is typical. And, of course, discrimination is part of the program whenever churches come into play.

The New York Times reports here on a review of beneficiaries of such a voucher program in Georgia. It found more than 100 schools that receive direct tax dollars have policiies that do not allow gay students to enroll or would kick them out if they were discovered.

“We are circumventing our own public policy with public money,” said State Representative Stacey Abrams, the leader of the Democratic minority in the House. “In our public schools, we do not disallow a child from attending on the basis of their sexual orientation.”

“If this were to be happening at any public school,” she said, “the lawsuit would be great and the settlement extraordinary.”

The schools argue that they operate according to deeply held principles and attendance is about choice and religious freedom. Fine. Discriminate. Just not with public money.

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Conway schools appear to stack deck on religion in schools

Max Brantley — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:45:00 -0600

The blog reported yesterday about a complaint by the Freedom from Religion Foundation about the broad access religious groups have enjoyed in Conway public schools at lunch and other free time.

The groups, in theory, are only socializing with existing members, not proselytizing, teaching religion or recruiting members. Some parents think they are doing those sorts of religious establishment things. Conway Superintendent Greg Murry said he intended to review the policy and make a report to the school board. He insisted the school district didn't intend to promote religious group recruitment in schools.

But whoa: It looks like he's ceded the review of the matter — and even speaking on the subject and recommendations — to the Liberty Institute, not exactly a neutral observer. From the Log Cabin:

The district reached out Friday to Liberty Institute, a nonprofit organization "dedicated to restoring and defending religious liberty across America," according to a news release and General Council Jeff Mateer. The district's move comes after the district received letter, dated Oct. 26, from Freedom From Religion Foundation, a nonprofit group that advocates for separation of state and church nationwide.

Liberty Institute will also be speak for the district on this issue from now on, Murry and Mateer said. Murry referred questions to Liberty Institute when asked how he decided to hire the group.

It is a conservative Christian advocacy group that has worked in the cause of advancing overt religious expression in public schools. From Wikipedia:

Liberty Institute has since shifted focus to providing pro bono legal assistance to Christian people and organizations that they believe are suffering religious persecution in the United States, such as students, veterans, and pastors whose religious free exercise rights they believe are being violated.

Disappointing. Murry sounded like a straight shooter when I spoke with him yesterday. But if he's turned speaking and press releases for a taxpayer-financed entity over to a Christian advocacy group, I misjudged.

To the religionists, it is persecution if they may not evangelize n public schools. Parents who've complained about this are not happy about the turn of events. They best prepare to get unhappier.

From the Liberty Institute website's pitch for money:

Your gift now will help us be prepared to fight back against the attacks on religious liberty by the ACLU, Freedom from Religion Foundation and other anti-religious groups.

The group was founded by Kelley Shackelford, a Texas lawyer who's made a specialty of suing over religious issues. Right Wing Watch provides a good look at the work of Shackelford, who apparently is now effectively in charge of administration of Conway public schools. Most recently, he was linked up with faux historian David Barton about "religious hostility" in America. Want hostility? Try to keep folks like this from cramming their preferred brand of prayer down kids' throats in public schools, then you'll see some hostility.

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Little Rock School District closes down discussion on school guards

Max Brantley — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 06:40:00 -0600

Interesting. A reader told me last night about a new discussion on the Little Rock School District Facebook page about Superintendent Morris Holmes' proposal to put an armed security guard (not police officer) in every district school not already served by one of 18 armed police officers and to add 10 guards to the district's overall security force.

A vigorous discussion ensued, some of which is shown in screen shots here, before the post was removed. Wonder why.

Reactions spanned the spectrum —pro, con, concerns about cost, concerns about the caliber of person who'd be carrying a gun on a $23,000-a-year job.

It seems a slippery slope to me. Where does it end? Inevitably, events will prompt an escalating discussion. How many guns and guards are enough? Is a single guard with a handgun really enough to guard against the potential of an assault with a semi-automatic weapon equipped with a huge ammo magazine? Don't we need more guards and more powerful weapons?

I credit School Board member Greg Adams for broaching the sensitive questions in the face of understandable desires to do something, anything, in response to the Connecticut slaughter. He was quoted in the Democrat-Gazette:

“It concerns me that if we focus on something that is so unusual and so rare that we may take our eyes off of other areas,” he said, adding that students are more likely to die from suicide or drowning than from a school shooting.

Adams asked for research on the use of guards in elementary school settings.

My correspondent wondered:

I would be interested to know how many current employees would have to be fired, or how many programs would have to be cut, to pay for those new employees.

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Judge keeps state in desegregation case; rules against Little Rock School District's fight against charter schools

Max Brantley — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 15:11:32 -0600

Federal Judge D. Price Marshall today denied the state's motion to be dismissed from all obligations under the 1989 settlement of the Pulaski County school desegregation case.

Instead, he ordered a hearing on that question. He cited a number of developments in the state's favor — two districts declared unitary, significant sums spent, the Lakeview school ruling. But he also noted arguments from the Little Rock side — on lack of state monitoring and on lack of state work to end the achievement gap between black and white students. Here's the ruling on that question. The parties are supposed to submit a schedule by Feb. 22 on discovery, briefs and the evidentiary hearing.

In the short run, that maintains the status quo on continued state support for desegregation here. That means any hope the legislature might have to capture that spending for other purposes has been delayed to some more distant point.

Judge Marshall, however, made another critical ruling. He held that the state's approval of open enrollment charter schools in Pulaski County didn't constitute a breach of its 1989 promise to not contribute to segregation in the county.

In a 30-page ruling, he said "no reasonable fact finder could conclude that the State is in material breach of the parties' 1989 Settlement Agreement as to open-enrollment charter schools in Pulaski County."

Here's the text of the ruling.

Said LRSD spokeswoman Pamela Smith:

We just learned of the ruling and have spoken with our attorneys. They have not had a chance to review/study the ruling, however, we are planning to have a public discussion about it at the next board meeting.

Said Chris Heller, the district's lawyer, on his reaction:

Disappointed. We wouldn't have filed the motion if we didn't think we had a good case so we're disappointed not to have the opportunity for a trial. I only had time to read the orders once before I had to drive to Fayetteville but I've made plans to meet with Dr. Holmes on Wednesday and asked to be on the agenda to discuss the situation with the Board on Thursday.

Re charter schools: Judge Marshall is a heckuva judge. If he says no reasonable fact-finder could argue that charter schools breach the 1989 agreement, that's an opinion worth respecting. But no reasonable fact-finder could deny that open enrollment charter schools have skimmed middle income and white students from the Little Rock School District as a whole, particularly at the middle school level, and thus made it harder to desegregate those schools. As a matter of law, that might be irrelevant. His analysis focused on charter schools and the interdistrict magnet schools financed by the 1989 agreement. It IS a matter of fact in daily schoool business, however, though I'd concede a lot of these students would have gone elsewhere (private schools for example) absent the charter schools. Or so it seems to me. The judge, however, concluded that the charters had had very little, if any, impact on desegregation, on the magnet schools or on majority-to-minority transfer programs.

To the extent that overall racial percentages and magnet enrollment haven't changed greatly, that's true. In practical terms, it isn't. An inner city middle school magnet like Dunbar, which lost many students to charters, is a good example of the direct impact. The judge looked only at direct losses from magnets to charters, not the universe of potential students lost to the charters and the sorts of students those were, though he does note that charter students tend to be better off economically than Little Rock students and the transfer group was whiter than the Little Rock District as a whole. This is particularly true in some coveted, well-financed charter schools with predominant white and middle class enrollments.

Still, there's no doubt, as the judge notes, the 1989 agreement didn't mention charter schools. They didn't exist then, after all. But he also rejected the argument that creation of charter schools — independent school districts in function and fact under state law — were analogous to the creation of a separate Jacksonville school district, something the court has prohibited until the deseg case is completed with all districts unitary. He said state funding for desegregation wasn't guaranteed for Little Rock, in any case, but for any school, including the newer charters. The explicit state commitment to six interdistrict magnet schools does not bar open-enrollment charter schools that function as magnets themselves, he said.

The judge noted that Little Rock went nine years without objecting to the charters in court. It's irrelevant, he said, that the district HAD protested many of the charter applications at the state Board of Education because of impact on desegregation. He said this was not the same thing as arguing in court that the settlement had been violated. The district should have spoken up sooner, he said. The judge also said the state had an obligation under law to consider desegregation impact; had vowed to do so and failure there was a state issue. This is another sad part of this story. The state Board of Education now takes this responsibility seriously. In the beginning, it did not. Early charters were located in white majority neighborhoods and, unsurprisingly, attracted white majority student bodies, despite promises to seek greater diversity.

Many more charter school applications are waiting in the wings. And, if the wealthy tycoons financing the charter movement have their way, they'll soon have control of the state approval process. No matter. Judge Marshall has ruled the charter school issue has been decided for good. It is a day of celebration for the Waltons and charter school advocates. The Little Rock School District now must consider the future and much more than whether to file a pro forma appeal of this decision.

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The end of school districts

Max Brantley — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:15:10 -0600

Sen. Johnny Key, who's sponsor of legislation to effectively remove any barriers to student transfers among school districts, posted this Twitter this morning. Wittingly, or unwittingly, it zings right to the heart of the matter:

Kids should not be bound to attend a school b/c of arbitrary, imaginary lines that create a "district"

This is the one-school-district theory of education. It is defensible in the Arkansas Constitution, which makes the state ultimately responsible for a sufficient and equal education for all students in Arkansas. It IS the logical conclusion of a system in which a parent can claim an educational advantage to moving a white kid from El Dorado to Parkers Chapel or Norphlet and both the losing and gaining district have little constructive means — except arbitrariness — to stop it.

Even many of the school administrators fighting such a sweeping change in the law in the interest of preserving local district autonomy know that Arkansas still has way too many school districts. We shouldn't have many more than one per county — perhaps a few additional in areas with big populations.

But the billionaires Johnny Key is speaking for ultimately favor total portability of public money. They want a parent to be able to take it wherever they wish, preferably to a school unburdened by state regulation and without a union workforce, even a private church school.

Appealing as this might sound to some, it would have profound consequences and hasten the demise of many small school districts that patrons love for their insular community feel, regardless of course offerings, achievement or management. It would also be the death knell of uniform and equal education for all.

Radical stuff.

I touched on this huge subject in a column this week.

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Central students lead state on AP testing

Max Brantley — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 10:10:20 -0600

Nice piece of news on two members of last year's Arkansas Times Academic All-star Team.

The two, Whitney Gao and Joseph Berleant, both from Little Rock Central High School, were Arkansas's AP Scholars for 2012. A male and female student from each state are named each year based on scores of 3 or higher on the greatest number of Advanced Placement exams and the highest average score.

The Little Rock School District reported:

Whitney Gao took a total of 21 exams in the following AP subjects: Art History, Biology, Calculus AB and BC, Chemistry, Chinese Language and Culture, Comparative Government and Politics, Computer Science A, English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, Environmental Science, European History, Human Geography, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Physics B, Physics C/Mechanics, Psychology, Statistics, United States History, and World History from 2009 to 2012 and earned a mean score of 4.90.

Gao is now a freshman studying at Harvard University. Her AP Physics teacher, Patrick Foley, at Central describes her as one of the most fantastic students he has ever had. "She continually amazed me with her dedication, insight, and talent. Her leadership skills were exemplary, guiding our robotics team from novice beginnings to regional competitors. For her senior year, she dominated my AP Physics B class, always scoring highest on assessments. She even scored perfectly on two tests, a feat no other student has accomplished in all my years of teaching! Even when stressed, she maintained a positive and energetic demeanor."

Joseph Berleant also took a total of 21 exams in the following AP subjects: Art History, Biology, Calculus AB and BC, Chemistry, Computer Science, English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, Environmental Science, European History, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Physics B and C/Mechanics, Psychology, Spanish Language, Spanish Literature, Statistics, United States Government and Politics, United States History, and World History from 2010 to 2012 and earned a mean score of 4.71.

Berleant is now a freshman studying at the California Institute of Technology. His AP Statistics teacher, Summer Vaught, at Central describes him as one of the most moral and honorable students she's encountered in her career. According to Vaught, "He pushed himself and other students to their fullest potential. As a member of the National Science Bowl team that competed in Washington DC, he was always the student who pushed us to work harder and longer during each and every practice. His dedication to his studies is truly amazing."

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