Arkansas Blog

Whats with the picture?

ARKBLOG: It is a pop culture reference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_Cowbell

I need more cowbell!

We need more cowbell!

I got a fever and the only cure is more cowbell. I need more cowbell, baby!

Traditional schools are not meeting the needs of all students, so there should be a variety of choices for parents. I support public ed., but there are far too many students who are not performing; and it is time for some drastic changes if the public system is not going to be genuinely repaired.

Asa with his statement just lost the support of public school superintendents state-wide. They are some of the most influential people in their communties.

This race is over. Beebe 60% - Asa 40%

Oh please, you are an idiot.

this looks like a picture of christopher walken, what's up?

"Traditional schools are not meeting the needs of all students, so there should be a variety of choices for parents. I support public ed., but there are far too many students who are not performing; and it is time for some drastic changes if the public system is not going to be genuinely repaired"

Nice statement but wrong. In some districts the parents are involved but in the poorer parts of the state, due to the fact that both parents are working multiple jobs, there is minimal parental involvement. If the parents didn't graduate from high school. there is even a larger issue as they may not even recognize the need for education.

I taught for 6 years in one of the poorer counties. On the parent nights, I might see the parents of 6 or 8 of the 150 kids I taught. And usually, these weren't the ones that I needed to see but rather ones who were there at school helping out in a number of ways all the time. The teachers have the students 6-6.5 hours a day. That leaves parents and other activities for17.5-18 hours a day.

Education is a joint responsibility. If you don't like what is happening, get involved. Be in the PTA. Be a chaperone on a trip (that can be a real eye opener!). Run for the school board. Keep the teachers phone number or the school's number near at hand. Assume that your student has homework. I had a high school senior that had his mother convinced that we didn't assign homework until the 9 week reports came out. High school studemnts should be studying at night. We did it 50 years ago and there is a lot more information available today but also a lot more resources.

As an aside, my son when questioned about his grade in history which was one of my better subjects, told me that the back half oh his book wasn't written while I was in school.

Back to the issue. Charter schools aren't the end all. Schools work with people working together (hear that Little Rock!). If you don't have the Board, teachers and parents on the same page of the hymnal, the kids will milk the disconnect for all they can.

I get it is a "pop culture" aka SNL reference, but what is the relevance of the art to the issue?

This is why Max is afraid to go on vacation.

I still don't get it.

I think Beebe and Asa really need to "explore the space" on this Charter School idea.

Charter schools may not be the end all, but you cannot argue with trying anything, everything, to fix education in this state. Serious change is needed but we have such an attachment to the status quo. Even the 'consolidation' we're going through is just a little tweak of the system.. .nothing will change.

More small schools aren't the answer. We can't have an education policy that is advocating consolidation to improve education in rural areas but fractionation in urban and suburban ones. That's a silly idea.

Christopher Walken: "More cowbell!"
Asa: "More charter schools!"

See?

Charter schools are not the answer to the broken system. Parents, teachers and students need to determine what is important information and make sure the state of Arkansas keeps its eyes on Private Schools with Public Funding aka Charter Schools. There has to be a compromise on teaching students and "standardized" tests designed by NON-teachers. Why is it that the Lawmakers, most of whom have never taught in a classroom, design the end of course exams or the ACTP test the kids get at the end of the year? Wouldn't it be much smarter to have them made up by teachers based on the standards?

I got a fever baby, and the only perscription is....more charter schools? Give me the cowbell. Or better yet, give Asa the cowbell and put him out to pasture.

Lot's more Cowbell, please. It's just not right without more Cowbell.

"Why is it that the Lawmakers, most of whom have never taught in a classroom, design the end of course exams or the ACTP test the kids get at the end of the year?"

Um, they don't.

Charter, private, public, faith-based, home schools, etc should all be viable options for parents. Throughout the nation, administrators/teachers who were staunch supporters of public ed. have chosen to abandon it and develop charter schools; and they are out performing the best public schools. Re-examine the segment Johs Stossel did for ABC; look at the recent show Oprah did with Bill and Melinda Gates and others. Charter schools do work; that may be a brutal reality for some, but nonetheless, still true. Public ed. need a dramatic/extreme makeover if it is to survive. Competition should make the public schools better. I am concerned about the success of all students, and we need to do whatever it takes to make sure each child in America gets a quality education, wherever the parents choose to send him/her.

Afraid not honestone. I get were you are coming from - every child deserves the best education we can provide. But what you propose is to offer "class" education. Just so many students can attend. Transportation concerns may be a stumbling block for some kids that want to go to a Charter School.

So those lucky few, go to Charter Schools, and the rest don't...right? It sets up a class educational system.

Education in Arkansas needs a complete overhall - there is no reason that every school should not be a "Charter School". The constitution says we educate ALL students with the same educational opportunites...Charters Schools are a nice idea - but until this state can offer an equal accross the board education, we have no business setting up exclusive Charter Schools. Argue all you want, but that's what they are, by design or otherwise.

Fed up to Here is the only one who has it right...parental and community involvement is the only thing that can fix the public schools.
And for that matter, they're not nearly as broken as the popular sentiment would have you believe. All of this wretching over schools not working has been driven by a decades long campaign of the right to undermine public education because fundamentally they believe it's a socialist idea that should have never been instituted and charter schools, home school, merit pay, vouchers and the like are all part of the project.
Yes, public education is a form of socialism and, like many other parts of our infrastructure, absolutely essential to the survival of a democracy. If you think ignorance is rampant in this country now, just wait until public education is no more. It'll be welcome to third wolrd.

No, according to the Stossel report, the students who attended the charter schools were predominantly black and latio; and the schools were doing exceedingly well. Dr. Lorraine Monroe was here in the city a few weeks ago addressing educators and discussing the ways in which she has been successful. Marva Collins did similar work with innercity students in Chicago, I think. Public schools should be the best thing going; however, those who are in policy-making decisions are not always genuine in their approach to resolving the problems. It has been alleged that many public schools are breeding grounds for prisons. On some level, I almost concur with the assessment. If we are truly going to invest in all children, then diverse options have to be made available to the parents. Charter schools are not just for the elite-----now, that may be the case in AR.

Anon 7:02 pm - Boy I am so glad that you wrote in. Why didn't we think of this before? Let's just keep doing what we're doing and not try anything new. What a great idea! There's nothing so wrong with consistently being at the bottom nationally in education is there? Heck no. Let's keep things the way they are. Great idea!

I don't guess the influence of the fundies that keep the teachers from mentions evolution and the ACTUAL age of rocks has anything to do with the quality of education in Arkansas, would it?

If the teachers were actually allowed to teach what they know, as they are in other states that surpass Arkansas, the kids just might do better.

Let's not forget that Charter schools are public schools with a bit of flexibility or the ability to specialize on a topic such as fine arts, math and science, etc...

Let's also not forget that Charter schools were brought to us through one of the most liberal members of the Arkansas Legislature...Little Jimmy Argue.