Arkansas Blog

Oh yea! hurrie on out and buy that new model of Edsel, be the first in your neighborhood to own one.

Of course it makes sense to wait and see the outcome of school consolidation. In technology it's called beta testing. In business it's called test marketing.
Beebe's approach on school consolidation paralells his approach to eliminating the grocery tax. Do it as it's feasible and workable. Give the fellow credit for years of seeing government changes work and not work.
We've had a novice, shoot-from-the-hip, then blame others-governor long enough to recognize the value of a precautionary approach.
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Agreed. Arkansas public education has been screwed up for so many years prior, why not take measures to make sure we fix it right this time? Besides, change in government is incremental for a reason -- to try and avoid mistakes or over-shooting the mark.

What good would lengthening the school year do, anyway?

Lwood, those are all things I like about Beebe, especially when standing next to A$a(!).

One thing I don't like about him is the way he regards our brothers and sisters who are not heterosexual. I know the word homophobe, but there must be a word for one who fears people who fear homosexuality.

Any crossword people out there? Will Shortz? Vic Fleming? Bill?

I haven't read up on the proposal to lengthen the school year, but I wonder if Little Rock wouldn't be a great place for year round schools across the board.

That always seemed like a good idea to me. I guess it wouldn't work for everyone, though, and it would need to.

On "year around schools"
Hugh, if the rest of this nation doesn't implement year around schooling the U.S. is going to be further behind than its current 17th place in the industrialized world.

Rapidly growing nations have as much school as they can afford and if they can afford year around they do it.

Today's high school algebra ,or jr high, was a senior level college course 25-30 years ago. Knowledge is being pushed down the age brackets. It should be. Learning is so much more fun and easier for young developing minds.
Our colleges and universities cannot keep spending large sums on remedial course work that should be accomplished in grades 10-12. And grades 10-12 cannot keep attempting to teach youngsters what they should have learned in grades 8-9 and so on.

Year around school is a matter of survival. U.S. passed the agricultural nation mark long, long ago so we no longer need to schedule school days around crop harvests nor for deer season either.

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"One thing I don't like about him is the way he regards our brothers and sisters who are not heterosexual."

In today's South if you want to write your defeat ticket at the polls just take a pro gay stance on anything. Regarding the gay issue I can't see Mike Beebe openly discriminating against gays but I could see Asa going out of his way to be punative. Until the Religous Right craziness goes back into its cave the issue won't change much.
Karl Rove, with his gay father, manipulated the non-issue quite well with the help of ReligRightwingnuts. I don't think it truly matters to Bushco or else they wouldd have undertaken a constitutional amendment against gay marriage. But the issue worked wonders at the polls. Still does.
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