Arkansas Blog

Which seats are open this fall?

Should be an interesting campaign.

Yes, Max, African-American students of the LRSD are in the majority, and blacks are in the majority for now on the school board. But the voting public as a whole is at least 75% white. The black majority desperately needs a peacemaker who can offer up an olive branch. Otherwise, they win short-term, but they are massacred long term by an enraged public, and students and the city suffer. Can they be big and smart enough to resist flexing their muscle for a year or two by understanding their power is short-lived, now is the time they could be forging an inclusive coalition to prove to all the doubters that the LRSD can prosper and embrace justice and racial cooperation even without the court? Most I visit with simply think that's asking too much of this board, but I SOOO wish they would surprise their detractors and set the right example for the future. Or is their purpose to wreck the train and invite the next lawsuit?

ARK. BLOG: I agree with much of what you said. But why is it always the black majority that must give up something and wait just a little longer. We''re in this crisis because the business chieftains made a terrible miscall. They thought the time was ripe to take over the district once and for all, put the CTA and John Walker to flight and run it like your average private CEO does -- my way or the highway. Along the way, democracy intervened.

I'd like some giveback -- by both sides. What will Brooks and the angry moommas give?

A good start would be an end to patronizing black board members in their public comments and an end to painting all members of the CTA with one wildly unfair brush. Not just stop doing these things, but acknowledge publicly that it was wrong to do so. I won't hold my breath on this bunch.

I was there and the supporters of Brooks would not let Charles Armstrong through when he arrived. He kept yelling that he was present and needed to get through, but they blocked him.

I am sickened by the first picture. Note that more people are seated, then are cheering. Everyone cheering is of one race, but the people seated are not. The very people who jumped up and cheered will want to be front and center Sept. 25th claiming there is no racial division in LRSD. Who is going to be bold enough to show the photo to the world then?

Up until tonight, I defended the progress that our city and schools had made because of my own personal experiences. After tonight, I realize we haven't moved forward at all, just made it appear that way to the outside. Until the people who cheered tonight come to the realization that the district is more than 4 or 6 select schools and that the communities obligation is to offer an equal eduation to all we are lost.

I suppose it's more important to placate the educational unions than it is to provide our children with opportunities, huh?

School boards are a thankless lot. Serving without pay, mostly without any knowledge of how and what schools are about, they often get thrust into the public eye over issues running from cheerleaders to administrators.

I have often wondered how dentists would like to have a board overseeing their work/accomplishments/goals/ by a board made up of people who know nothing about dentistry. The same thing for pharmacists, newspaper editors, gynecologists, and whatever. But this is exactly what educators have to put up with and no one seems to give a crap.

I know, of course, that public money is what makes the schools public. And that's why groups think their Bibles should be part of the curriculum or their version of how man came to this planet. It's really amazing the public schools do as good a job as they do with all the pitched battles they have to wage in the name of the public.

"I suppose it's more important to placate the educational unions than it is to provide our children with opportunities, huh?"

You are only talking about select children, not all children.

Cato,

With your logic regarding the qualifications for school board membership, I guess you don't buy into the Jacksonian "common man" principle of government that is the cornerstone of our elected form of government. Surprising, given your Nom de Guerre.

Regardless of your opinion of the "common man" elected leadership, the elected leaders choose an administrator who is responsible for providing professional leadership to the educators. if teachers do not like the leadership, they have every option to choose their employer as well as their occupation.

Unfortunately, the children are not always able to choose their school or teachers based on qualifications (and just having a teacher certificate does not make a good teacher any more than the letters M.D. make a good doctor).

I also find it unfortunate that we have apparently provided the LRSD so much money they are able to spend $500,000 to change leadership. I doubt the replacement would come any less expensive and with no guarantees of performance or that he/she wouldn't be replaced in the next election cycle with a similar buyout.

"I was there and the supporters of Brooks would not let Charles Armstrong through when he arrived. He kept yelling that he was present and needed to get through, but they blocked him." Dr Brooks needs to condemn this malarkey, and respect his bosses, the Board black and white, stop being a pawn. Dr Mitchell needs to take a step back, and let this cool off. Mr Hussman needs to work on integration of his beloved "Episcopal" seggie academy, and the boarding school attended by young Master Hussman (who told friends how he preferred public schools, and complained the old man packed him off). CTA, act more like an organization of professionals, and less like the Teamsters.
To the entire community- folks can't we all jus get along. This ain't helping the children.

"Serving without pay, mostly without any knowledge of how and what schools are about."

Judging from the news report I just saw on the local Fox affiliate (which really sucks, but I can't find my remote control to change the channel), the school board in Little Rock is also burdened with members who can't string two grammatical sentences together. Charles Armstrong sounds like a complete idiot. You get the school board members you deserve, I suppose.

Oh, PV,
Your figures are wrong. The following figures were lifted from the 2005 census report for Pulaski County:
White persons, percent, 2005 (a) 62.5%
Black persons, percent, 2005 (a) 34.0%
Do you have some other figures to prove the 75% and how would you know?

What it would be nice to read tomorrow:
CTA: Dr. Brooks, these are the key tasks that we think you have handled poorly during your tenure with this district. The CTA would then present their slate of issues and suggested paths to peaceful resolution. Dr. Brooks would hopefully respond in kind and ask the CTA to back off on a few things like merit pay as long as open and fair business was the rule, which is hard to ensure with two parties as anti-each other as these. Spending an amazing amount of cash to buy him out in an already strapped system doesn't make sense either. There has to be some middle ground here which both parties SHOULD agree is better for everyone. Every scenario in this one is a loser, so get on with it.

Curious,

I suspect both of your numbers are incorrect. In this case, the populace is what is in the voting boundaries of the LRSD.

Am I the only one that noticed that the grant awards from the Public Education Foundation were down signatively from the last couple of years?

I went over to the Clinton School of Public Service tonight to view the wonderful documentary on the Lost Year by Sandra Hubbard. Looking at what unfolded at the Little Rock School Board meeting here online, I know I made the right choice. I think they should fire the idiot Brooks and move on. He is too divisive to have any credibility to forge the type of healing needed here in our community.

The documentary did a good job of detailing how all of the segregationist vs. integrationist forces of the late 50's battled it out to give Arkansas the black eye it is still sporting today! The so-called new group of courageous women such as Teresa Gray should go and see the film and get a good lesson of what the WEC was all about. I doubt if any of these Hussman women have even read about let alone met any of these wonderful women who fought courageously to reopen the schools in Little Rock in 1958-1959.

I think that if we do not get a handle on the attitudes that have brought this situation in the LRSD to a boil, then we will get another black eye that may never heal. This is the dumbest set of circumstances that could have come about on the brink of the Central High fifty year celebration. I think the national media will have a field day with the backwoods and hillbilly mentality of folks here in Arkansas. No wonder they think we are a bunch of bare feet country folks with a fourth grade education!

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/05/05119.html
Stump,
If LRSD.org had the available information, I wouldn't have had to go to the US census figures from two years ago.
Check it out.

P.S.: These people think that this is about football game where somebody really wins, not the lives and futures of our children. Maybe people like Teresa Gray is so childish that she should go back to school. Not one of those individuals cheering probably has ever volunteered one hour of time to mentor a child who really needs it. Now if they ever did that, it would really be something to cheer about.

Census numbers in Pulaski County don't equal voter counts in LR.....

"I also find it unfortunate that we have apparently provided the LRSD so much money they are able to spend $500,000 to change leadership."
--Stump

Thanks for making my point, stump. Now who exactly makes that decision?
Again, mostly by those who know little about how schools are run and what they are really about. One doesn't even have to be a school graduate to be on a school board that operates a multi-million dollar operation. All one has to have is electibility, favor with the voting public; charisma, perhaps.

Of course, since they know nothing about running schools the idea is to hire someone who does know. Good in principle, weak in actual practice. I don't know a better system but there has to be something.

And, stump, our Founding Fathers didn't have a whole lot of faith in that
"cornerstone of our elected form of government." They removed the selection of the president two steps away from the masses, the Supreme Court Justices three steps away and Senators two steps away. They only part they allowed the "common people" to choose was the election of Representatives. Everything else was taken out of their hands.....on the federal level. So much for faith in the common man's wisdom.

dowhat,
I will gladly post correct facts if you will give me a link.

I teach in LRSD and am a member of the CTA. I don't like Dr. Brooks' style, & don't like some of the substance of what he says/does. (Like Faubus' $1000 teacher raises the public assumed were fact, Brooks has made promises that the public believes even though there is no proof these promises have been fulfilled.) However, I have exactly the same feelings about the CTA leadership, too.
I don't think Dr. Brooks has a clue about what needs to happen in the classroom, but CTA leadership is having so much fun confronting Dr. Brooks about anything and everything, They appear to have forgotten about education. We don't need confrontation. We need some cool heads and civility. I have always admired Katherine Mitchell as a board member who puts students first, cares about staff morale and is willing to vote her convictions. I do not think Dr. Brooks needs to be fired. The board needs to say, "Here's where we find fault with your performance. Fix it." The PN agreement states that a principal must give assistance to a poorly performing teacher to help that teacher improve. Seems to me that the administration deserves the same treatment. If he doesn't improve, don't renew his contract.

Cato,

I think your position is one taken by those who favor the electoral college to keep our country safe from the unwashed masses easily influenced by charisma and false promises or million dollar campaigns (in Roman times they just handed out bread to the rabble).

Actually, our founding fathers indeed lacked faith in the unwashed masses and required voters to be males who owned property among other stipulations to keep power in the landed gentry classes.

This whole egalitarian democracy thing is definitely a messy form of government, but it seems to have safeguards built in to protect the process. Seems like riled up parents and teachers are one of those safeguards. Even if some of them happen to be business leaders or newspaper owners.

http://www.votepulaski.net/PDF%20Docs/2007%20school%20calendar.pdf

I hope everyone who is worked up about this situation remembers to get involved in this next election. School board elections have notoriously low turnout.

If it were up to me, I would vote him off the island. Where is Simon Cowell when you need him? Simon would know what to tell Roy Lee---get out Dodge, dude!!! However, there are those who believe Brooks should be in rehab or in a rubber room, or both. There is a serious problem with the current leadership in the district and it should be, if possible, be resolved in the most amicable fashion. Brooks should have enough integrity to resign, enough character to acknowledge he is not the caliber of visionary we need in LR; however, he is the empty shell who can be manipulated by the private interest groups in the city. In short, Brooks needs to go....

Stump,
That link is for the calendar for elections. It has NOTHING to do with the number of LRSD voters and race.
My 80+ year old mother, recounts her days as a child in small town Arkansas, when she would get nickels for going home and talking to her parents about voting for a certain candidate. She also mentions that pints of Whiskey were also passed out to adult men.
Messy Democracy? That was then and that is now. Folks can be bought. If money determines one's vote, then they deserve what they get.

Perhaps it was good that the coup was delayed for a day. Let the opposing factions go to their neutral corners and ponder the implications of what's about to happen.

If Dr. Brooks is the valiant leader his champions foreswear, can he not be open to considering the grievances against him and at least attempt to work toward compromise? Is he not willing to understand that those who find fault with some of his actions and decisions are not idiots, not the enemy (well, they hadn't all been) and not going away?

And if the Mitchell brigade is truly intent on righting what they see as a listing educational ship, can they not try again to work with their captain before keelhauling him and turning that vessel's tattered sails against an uncertain wind?

I am no fan of the merit pay experiment, but as one who's volunteered many hours in LRSD schools for 13 years and counting, I know that among the many wonderful educators there lurk some who lack motivation and are devoid of inspiration toward their young charges. And they know it and they don't care. There has to be a way to get them interested in teaching again or get rid of them. This situation has sadly opened the door to corporate meddlers itching to leave their mark on the community.

I recognized some of the cheering moms in the photos and TV coverage and I can attest that these are women who devote much time to their schools. (Several I saw are stay-at-home moms). I don't agree with their stand, but I can't question their commitment to public education.

It is, as Max seems to say, a crying shame that there can't be some way the staunch proponents on both sides of the divide can meet and for their children's sake avoid this uncivil war.

Come tomorrow, will we be better than today?

I have often wondered how dentists would like to have a board overseeing their work/accomplishments/goals/ by a board made up of people who know nothing about dentistry. The same thing for pharmacists, newspaper editors, gynecologists, and whatever. But this is exactly what educators have to put up with and no one seems to give a crap.

Cato,
You forgot HMOs and the lack of choice. Docs, dentists, and pharmacists also work under severe restrictions. I would love to see editors with strict requirements. oh, but, that is against the First Amendment.

spillingthebeans - I love Sandra Hubbard's work. Glad to hear mention of it here.
Sounds like everyone in that meeting should sit through a viewing before their next meeting begins.

This is all so sad. Thanks again AT for keeping an eye on 'em.

I am one of the mothers who clapped tonight when the meeting was adjourned. I didn't attend because I was loyal to the Little Rock Mothers for progress in our Schools or those who want Dr. Brooks out. I attended because of how this has transpired over the past several weeks. If teachers, parents or school board members have concerns over Dr. Brooks's performance, it should be discussed in a forum demonstrating broad representation and with all school board members present. It should NOT be at the behest of a special interest group, .....nor should undo pressure be applied to the School Board we elected. There should be no intentional exclusion of members or use of loop hole procedures. (And let me be clear.......both sides have shown their creativity in manipulating this situation.) Our students, teachers, administrators, parents, School Board members and our community deserves more than these antics. I believe everyone involved needs to take a hard look at what concession they can bring to the table in order to resolve this quickly and do so in a civilized manner.

May the School Board weigh their options carefully and vote their conscience

I don't have any kids in the LRSD and I haven't been following the ruckus.

But, in the little snippet of video on the news tonight was Roy Brooks walking down into the crowd pumping his fist. Pumping his fist like he'd won a ball game. That was enough to turn me permanently against the man. Anybody who'd treat this looming crisis as a personal ball game is just a jackass.

I'm looking for volunteers to help me decorate the Little Rock Nine sculptures for Easter. Meet at 4 am Sunday, across the street at OW Pizza, under the scarecrow. Bring bunny ears, brightly colored baskets and lots of Peeps! See you there.

Since I wasn't at the board meeting last night, I can only go by what has been reported in this blog. Just because a motion is made to adjourn and then seconded does not mean the meeting is adjourned. A vote must be taken and a majority must win to adjourn. Was a vote taken? If so, how could there have been a majority since there were 3 against 3? Did Baker Kurrus pull a fast one? Could someone let me know if a vote was taken or not?

The issues here are very unclear due to the media hype, the emotions running high and the secrecy surrounding the process. Through all the insults, jibes, quips and pointed comments, no one has addressed any issues that have an impact on learning, teaching or administration. As an LRSD teacher it has been hard for me to get through the muck to get to the issues. So I'll try here for you all:
1. Dr. Brooks entered into several contracts, one for 350,000, without ever bringing the proposal to the board for approval. When entering into these contracts he would have the CFO sign and mail the checks before the board was even alerted. This is against policy and is a gross misuse of public funds. It is also very divisive and stinks of corruption.
2. Dr. Brooks's deposition during the desegregation hearing in which he stated "he barely got out of there", when asked about his Bachelor's Degree, "I barely got out of there, too", when asked about his Master's degree and his inability to remeber the title or even subject of his dissertation, makes his qualifications questionable, at the least. He was not hired by this board, the 2 members on there now that were there for his hiring, voted against him, due to his questionable qualifications.
3. He has visited schools and attended teacher's meetings where he has threatened firing for teachers who don't agree with his tactics. We are professionals and have the right to respectfully disagree. And on this same line, he never talks to teachers about how to fix problems, or addresses their needs, but blames them for all the problems in the system, which primarily stem from inept administration!
4. His methods of closing schools, especially Southwest, which had the most improved test scores of any middle scholl last year!
5. He has chosen the CTA as his scapegoat. Is everything they do good, no. But as a whole, they are in place to ensure continuity for the people that will be there as superintendant's come and go. The contract is so long becasue administrators apparently have to have every detail explained to them.
6. His desire to cater to a few schools on top of his desire for merit pay for a few schools, created division and unfairness for teachers and deny certain types of children (poor,black, hispanic) the same opportunities as others. THis is the primary problem that needs to be fixed in our district. No matter what school a child goes to, the same basic learning experience ought to be in place and its not. THere is disparity in funds distribution, text distribution and even the number of teachers.
7. He refuses to compromise and listen to the CTA when addressing any issue, which negatively affects student learning.
I hope this has helped clarify somethings. As far as this blog, black people do vote, teachers do teach, all kids deserve to be fairly educated, Hussman needs to edit a balanced newspaper, CTA needs to "get more flies with honey", the board needs to come together since they were elected and stop all this puppetry with children's education and Dr. Brooks should be searching the classifieds, becasue his breed of division has ripped our district apart. In 50 years what has truly changed? Central is still a school within a school, all schools are not equitable, black children have lost their voice and the ugliness in the community still abounds.

April,

Assuming the veracity of your statements, can you or anyone else guarantee that just by changing Superintendants with a $500,000 buyout two years early that it will fix all of those things? Because if so, and if someone will guarantee it with their own money, I'll be more than happy to jump on the bandwagon. (think of the Razorback Foundation paying off the rest of a coach's contract)

Can you tell me that $500,000 can not be spent in a better way, maybe even to help some of the disadvantaged children or schools that you mentioned? I always hear that teachers are underpaid, books and supplies are lacking, and buildings are crumbling.

If Brooks is fired, maybe the CTA and the School Board need to review the way that those contracts are written so that when a change is necessary it does not waste taxpayer money to pay someone for not working.

I have a question for Concerned Mom. Are you aware that for three years the teachers have tried to share their concerns about Brooks with the School Board members? Sadly, it fell on deaf ears.

To give you an illustration from last night - two women who are friends ran into each other after last night's meeting. The mother who cheered was surprised to see that her friend was supporting Brooks' ouster and asked her why she thought he should leave. The friend shared that all of her teacher friends had shared stories about their pitiful treatment from Brooks. The one who had cheered stated that it was all lies! If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is a duck.

It is time that people like Teresa Gray listen to the teachers with an open heart and mind. On the news last night, I heard her say that we support our teachers, but the children come first. The implication of that statement is that the children don't come first with teachers. If that is what you think consider the following - lead administrator who belittles employees, endless paperwork, constant attacks from the statewide paper, program after program to implement that are not given time to work, buildings that leak, flood, have mold, etc., and other assorted job "perks." If it weren't for the joy of working with children, most teachers would throw in the towel.

Listen to interviews with board members, and then ask yourself why parents want alternatives to LRSD.

Just heard Katherine Mitchell on KARN. She all but called Brooks an Uncle Tom. The conversation was rife with racial doublespeak.

This issue sounds more like a personality conflict between Brooks and Mitchell. And if she thinks Brooks will go without a buyout or a costly legal battle she is crazy.

Also heard Max on KARN. The anti Brooks faction needs to listen to him. He made some compelling arguments they should stick with.

Thank you for clarifying what the issues are from your points of view.. 'Love my students and job,just can't STAND my boss' and Yonwood. This gives me food for thought. It would be nice if there was less political posturing by everyone involved and more discussion to help educate people about the issues. I encourage everyone to lay their issues out on the table....keep it civil and then allow the full school board to vote their conscience. Again....my biggest problem with this whole thing is how people are trying to stack the deck one way or the other. If by his actions he deserves to be fired.... then so be it. BUT, don't try to exclude one group's concerns inorder to do it.

Thanks to all who have expressed their opinion.

I don't believe that firing Roy Brooks will solve anything, as satisfying as it might be to some school board members. Why should we believe that the next superintendent will be any better than Brooks? The board should give Brooks some specific instructions about how he should handle contracts and agreements and tell him that deviating from those specific instructions will be grounds for dismissal, dismissal for cause. As many on this blog have observed, we really can't afford $500,000 to satisfy the egos of a few board members. The board should do its job, much of which is providing guidance and direction to the superintendent.

The question is not whether you should spend $500,000 on severance for Brooks or on teachers, books, or buildings. That is not a cost-neutral comparison. That mindset basically says, "Superintendents don't matter. Any old person can sit in that chair."

Leadership at the top does matter. Yes, the school board might decide to keep Brooks and use the $500,000 they save for books and teachers and buildings. And in the process they may also preserve Brooks's obvious anti-teacher campaign for the next two years while he finishes his contract and continue to worsen the division for which, like it or not, he has become the lightning rod. Whether Ms. Gray likes it or not, the teachers are the ones who make things happen (or not happen) in the classroom. And keeping a superintendent who belittles and de-values the work that the front line staff do is not a cost-neutral decision.

Would a replacement for Brooks be any better? That obviously depends on who the replacement is. And, in many respects, it may also depend on how that replacement, if any, is chosen. If the board does decide to remove Brooks, I hope that they will engage in an open search process that allows parents and teachers and businessmen, and even newspaper publishers, of every color and persuasion and every part of the city to participate or at least observe that process. Failure to do so will make it very difficult, if not impossible, for that replcement to succeed.

Private schools are growing at a record pace. Here's another great example of why. My kids and grandkids won't darken the doors of schools run by these people. What an embarrassment for both sides. They all sounded like a bunch of toothless goobers on the tv interviews.

The famous Mark Twain quote should be kept in mind:

First God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made School Boards.

The LRSD is becoming the WIld West minus the sharp-shooters. Correct me if I'm wrong, but, from what I understand, Dr. Brooks dodged the bullet last week only because, though there was a quorom, Dianne Curry walked out before a vote could be taken.

Dr. Brooks dodged the bullet last night because Katherine Mitchell jumped the gun when she prematurely called the meeting to order before all members were present and accounted for.

Now, Dr. Brooks and the LRSD are slowly losing blood, and, though one side of the audience will surely be cheering tonight (I'm betting it will be Mitchell's), there won't be any winners.

I, for one, can't wait to explain to my kids how adults are taking care of the business of running our schools!

Max said it best: "Some people who've stuck by the district in hard times will abandon it, particularly if the new leadership follows a pattern set in other urban areas of featherbedding and acceptance of low standards. The loss of white families will harm the district. Loss of students will cost money. Loss of supporters will doom millage elections. Loss of integrated schools with proven performance records will influence housing patterns and encourage more flight. This is the nightmare scenario painted by those who'd like to stick with Brooks. I am sad to say, much as I agree that Brooks has been a polarizing and error-prone leader, that I think the prediction of doom may be correct."

The loser of this battle will not be determined tonight. If you think it will, you are as short sighted as the Board. Take a look at the public schools in Atlanta or Birmingham to get a glimpse of the future of the LRSD. I have already seen parents on this blog saying that they don't want their kids associated with this kind of leadership. They are just the first of many.......

Please consult the LRSD Board Policies http://www.lrsd.org/gen_info/policies/B/Section%20B%20Contents.htm

SECTION BEDC - QUORUM
"A majority of the Board of Education will constitute a quorum. A quorum must be present to convene a meeting that would enable the Board to conduct business."

SECTION BED- MEETING PROCEDURES
"The Little Rock School District Board of Education uses certain procedures for conducting business. Except as specifically altered herein, all meetings will be conducted according to Robert's Rules of Order Revised."

Dr. Mitchell was correct in calling the meeting to order.

Baker Kurrus was wrong in moving for adjournment and then leaving before a vote could be taken.

Dr. Mitchell + 3 board members makes a quorum and can vote on any issue.

Translation: Even if Kurrus, Berkley, and Fox NEVER show up for any meeting which is called according to Board Policy (notification to public of at least 2 hours) Dr. Mitchell, Mr. Daugherty, Mr. Armstrong, and Ms. Curry have the power to meet, go into executive session, and vote to terminate Roy Brooks contract.