Arkansas Blog

Many people are becoming frustrated with traditional government schools and will choose to enroll their children in charter, private, and Christian schools, as they should. A teacher with the LRSD has made application with the state to open a charter school; I wish her the best. I believe in parental choice---and all parents are not satisfied with the current state of public schools; and I personally don't see any major changes in the near future.

I have had the "unpleasure" of working with Naccamen Williams. He is an overeducated, self-rightous, pompous bore. It does not surprise me he would do something as unethical as this. He's a well paid pimp who knows his role. And he can attempt all he wants to cover his actions up with $10 words. As Ann Richards once remarked, you can put lipstick and a hat on a pig and call it Monique; but it's still a pig!

Overeducated? We sure don't want too much education for someone on the State Board of Education!

$10 words? Those are such a bother. But, on the other hand, they are words. By, "unpleasure", did you mean, "displeasure?"

Pimp? If the Dem-Gaz made a reference like this, there would be a crowd of 3 or 4 protesting in front of their offices.

"But note for the record: Board member Naccaman Williams, an employee of the Walton Family Foundation that provided the money to keep the Imboden school alive, apparently voted on this issue."

Note for the record that the other 7 board members voted with Dr. Williams.

ARK. BLOG: Means nothing on the ethical question.

I think that I'm correct that Nac Williams has voted against some charter school applications coming before the SBE. Projects that the Walton Family Foundation did provide some grant funding-- at least for "pre-planning." These grants, I think, are in the amount of $10K each. The USDE also provides a similar grant via the SBE.

The effect of this is that most any group wanting to "consider" organizing a charter school can apply to the SBE and the WFF and receive two grants totaling $20K. Only to research the matter and gauge local interest, which is a good thing--more local folks informed and engaged.

There may be other examples of Nac voting contrary to the "investment" of the foundation. Seemingly, he has been employed at the Foundation to be his own man focusing on student achievement. He probably has a greater role in Foundation policy they we realize

ARK. BLOG: Real simple here. He voted for a proposal to which the company for which he worked gave operational support. He shouldn't do that..

I agree but I wanted to make the point that he has voted contrary to the Foundation in the past.

ARK. BLOG: Not necessarily, however. Those votes might have represented the foundation's view of a particular project after preliminary work under planning grants. Clearly, they back some marginal operations already and, just as clearly, everyone who wants to run a charter school isn't qualified.

He's just too closely associated with an immensely wealthy effort to promote charter schools. If it were simply a matter of philosophy -- as it may be with some other Huckabee appointees when it comes to charters -- that's the way it goes. But he makes his living from that effort. There's a difference.

You might elect a union sympathizer to a school board, for example. Others might not like a union-friendly voting pattern such a board member might adopt. But if the board member happened to be the executive director of the Little Rock Classroom Teachers Association, people would rightly holler bloody murder on such a person voting on CTA-backed proposals.

You are right.

To the charter issue itself. Why do you appear to be so closed to the concept of a "state contract school."

They stand to serve a very useful purpose if structured properly and adequately funded.

ARK. BLOG: I've written volumes about it. A short take.

1) There seems to be a working presumption that if you call yourself a charter school you must be better than a regular public school. No track record need be exhibited.

2) The reduction of controls has created problems all over the country in operation, administration and accountability.

3) The schools tend to be self-selecting. It doesn't surprise me that motivated parents with kids who inherit their gift in science produce good test scores at a school dedicated to science, built in the better part of town and hard to reach for poor, troublemaking kids with disengaged parents.

4) No comprehensive testing has shown that charters outperform public schools. There's no doubt that they skim cream of students and serve as, effectively, publicly financed voucher schools catering to distinct student populations that sometimes coalesce more around geographic convenience and shared demographic characteristics than anything else. Middle-class kids from homes with involved parents are going to succeed just about wherever they go. Indeed, poor kids with involved parents who commit to regular interaction with schools, longer school days and longer school weeks also succeed in charter schools, just as they would in a straight public school where every kid who didn't meet those standards was shown the door.

By the time we've created charter schools for all those who want to segregate themselves from the general population, which is the ultimate end of the great charter revolution, we'll have a mess left on our hands in the general public schools. Certainly in the major cities. In the most distressed areas, it's just about impossible to create strong and workable charter schools because the students, teachers and money aren't present in sufficient quantity.

Doc and the other Walton apologists should have viewed the NewsHour segment last night about the charter schools in DC. They often do not compare well with even the pathetic public schools in DC. H.L. Mencken said it best, "for every complex problem there is a simple, straight-forward and WRONG solution."
Oh, and Doc, along with those attributes I quoted earlier which apply to Mr. Williams and you, I need to add humorless. For you PhD simply means piled higher and deeper.

John Stossel and Heraldo Rivera did segments on charter schools that were highly successful and out performing most public schools; not the mention the article in Ebony highlighting the AA charter schools that were doing superbly well. Any school can work, no matter its name, when you have strong leadership and world-class teachers. Too much insanity is tolerated in most of our public schools and no one seems to be in control, other than the students who 'run' the show.

ARK. BLOG: Yes, indiividually, some do well. Individually, many public schools do well. What you can't say is that because something is a charter school it foillows that it will do well. On average, they don't do as well as all public schools. Nobody has invented the wheel yet that lifts all kids from all backgrounds to proficiency.

honestone,

We don't have to look very far to see examples of what can be achieved with charter schools. Compare the performance of KIPP students in Helena to their counterparts in the traditional public schools around there.

Now, Max might say that despite their income and educational levels, the parents are very involved in their children's education. GOOD! He might also worry that the traditional schools might suffer by loosing them. TOO BAD! Why should parents like that sacrifice their children to substandard schools? And, what a sad commentary it is that a traditional district might worry that another option could be more attractive than what they have to offer.

I meant, "losing", but "loosing" might have actually been the right word.

Doc--
Max is and has always been one of publc ed's strongest supporters. His loyalty is unwavering, which should be applauded; however, for some reason, he chooses to find fault with charter schools. Contrary to the image being purported by those who invest in public schools, the masses are being left behind. If most of the teachers in public schools who are truly dedicated could afford to walk out, they would run to the nearest exit. I have spoken to so many of them and I know their pain; and, from their vantage point, the future does not look too bright. The few students who do well in the schools would succeed in any environment. Too much control has been given to students and parents who are about 'getting over' on the system; and the system permits it; and the system is a colossal failure. I guess we should be thankful for the responsible parents and students who still choose to support public ed. If it were left up to me, I would encourage them to enroll their children in private, charter or Christian schools; or choose to home school their children.