Arkansas Blog

Not stirring the pot... just curious.

How does this illustrate the new board dynamic? Is that a dig on Fox (of whom I am admitedly a fan), or is this something else?

I need to learn more about this issue since I am new to LR.

I am stirring the pot...is the dynamic because of the new racial make-up or is the dynamic because of the CTA involvement in the elections.

Super Brooks suggested during a recent radio call in show that parents needed to get involved to beat the CTA.

Sounds like you are implying that the black majority will get what the black majority wants.

White folk don't have no say no mo.

Or have I misinterpreted your comment?

Is this supposed to somehow discourage the proverbial "white flight"?

i don't understand why the state's new accountability system--in response to the Federal NCLB, and also the in-state 'value added' system, won't suffice for the court.

LRSD tracking measures can't be anymore complicated, or demanding, than the combined state and federal systems. anybody know why state's system won't work??

quality assessment and accountability measures are here to stay. Testing will only get simpler--most importantly, 'better' in the public's eye.

i suspect that some key folks are making more of the issue than should be made. the question is, 'is the district closing the achievement gap and why?'

one reason for the lack of progress is that the district is afraid of walker and the plaintiffs. plaintiffs have been able to divert focus from needed proven programs--maybe just to keep the suit alive. the poor children have suffered. shame on them.

poor kids can learn but it takes more effort.

hope that's not perceived as racist? truth is we can do better and it's time to quit the bickering, stop expecting less from poor blacks, and stop playing the race card when we start to see progress.

to all, rise up! we CAn do better!

Walker said he would be fine with an all-black LRSD. Sounds like he may get his wish.

I have a bad feeling about where the LRSD is headed. I think we might be about to see modest progress erased and the beginnings of a New Orleans or Memphis-like school system with horrific inner city schools and complete white flight. One of the few sources of pride LR has is that this hasn't happened yet. I just find it ironic that Walker, who represents the Joshua intervenors, would spearhead this. Will he need a job when the district is 98% minority?

The problem here is that this escalating situation will rapidly eliminate about eight years of progress. My kids just spent four years in a vibrant LRSD elementary school. There was an engaged staff and a lot of parental involvement. We could not have had a better public school experience. (I won't get into the fact my wife and I are conservatives, and are always a little amused by the Little Rock Hillcrest liberals who have never set foot in a public school. The kids of course are at Cathedral.)

Anyway...this latest school board unrest will scare away these families the district needs most. These are the involved, active parents who could scrape together private school tuition, but they really can't afford it. They throw all their energy into making their elementary school better. If these families go private the schools are left with uninvolved parents who don't do fundraisers and field trips and school maintenence projects. From there the district goes downhill fast.

The district has already been dealing with the fact that many of these families who love their neighborhood elementary school go private when they hit middle school.

This balance of keeping these active families from leaving is what is most critical to the quality of the district. Frankly, John Walker could care less about these families....but he does care about the families who never get engaged in public school day to day life. It's pretty sad and discouraging from where I sit.

This is the second reporting of a school board meeting in which John Walker "came in late". He comes in late and then wants to have his say. What is up with that?

Not having a school board in charge is one of the big benefits of private schools. I want professional educators in charge of the school, not someone who can win an election. And if a parent ever has an issue, they can go straight to the leadership of a private school. They may like the answer they get or not, but it's going to be clear and rational, not a matter of public politics.

It's pretty funny to suggest that liberals are private school people and conservatives are the ones holding our public schools together. Count the number of Christian private schools out there.

My sense is the exact opposite: it's conservatives who are leading the charge to private schools, while liberals are the ones biting the bullet and sending their kids to public education.

Race may be a factor in the proliferation of private schools, but it's not the only factor, and I doubt that it's the most significant factor. Many people want their children educated in a certain way --- with an emphasis on a particular religious belief, for example --- and private schools offer these people the opportunity to have their children the education environment they prefer. Race is probably a much greater factor in the white flight to Benton, Cabot, and Conway.

I don't know about that, Pavel. It seems to me race is every bit a factor, rather silently and subtly factored into the whole, in the choice for private schools.

I hear a lot of complaining about schools but not a lot of involvement. If you want to change them build a political coalition and do it. That is what CTA did and they won. Everyone has the right to complain and everyone has the right to vote. It is up to them to decide which one they want to do. Ever look at the number of people who trouble themselves to go to the polls in a school board election? I guess a majority of folks are okay with the schools.

Major dividing lines between private schools and public schools:

1). They can refuse entrance to any child without any appeal.

2). They do not have to have special education or a special ed teacher.

3). They do not have to have a state approved scholastic program.

4). They may dismiss students for any reasons.

5). They do not have to employ certified teachers.

6). They may raise tuition whenever they wish.

cato:

are those excuses for why public schools don't have to be accountable?

Race is certainly a factor in the proliferation of private schools, but if religion were not a consideration, we would probably have more schools like Pulaski Academy and fewer schools with links to churches. What motivates anyone --- especially which factor is a greater motivator than another --- is simply speculation on my part.

I went to Catholic schools that were taught by nuns and priests. I would have preferred the public schools, but my parents made the decision, and that decision was based on their belief that I should receive an education based on Catholic principles and doctrines, not because they were racists. The money they spent sending me to parochial schools could have been used for other things. If parents choose to send their children to church-affiliated schools, I have to give them the benefit of the doubt that their motivations were no different than those of my parents.

For the record, I am today an Episcopalian, and our children attended Little Rock public schools, from grade school through college.

"I send my children to private schools because I'm a hateful bigot" vs. "The public schools lack security, are academically suspect & don't teach my values"..a real no brainer. For someone in the old south to say it isn't racial indicates a lack of intellectual honesty.

"I believe that whoever tries to think things through honestly will soon recognize how unworthy and even fatal is the traditional bias against Negroes. What can the man of good will do to combat this deeply rooted prejudice? He must have the courage to set an example by words and deed, and must watch lest his children become influenced by racial bias." Albert Einstein

"Super Brooks suggested during a recent radio call in show that parents needed to get involved to beat the CTA. "

Ahh, somebody should alert the Super that parents *are* involved - and they voted the CTA ticket. Not a clue .....

"are those excuses for why public schools don't have to be accountable?"

Nope. Just reminding so when comparisons are made, comparisons will be accurate. Give public schools those same conditions and you will see great changes in the public schools....some bad, some not so bad.