Arkansas Blog

Thanks to Mr. Carreiro for adding more impetus to the proposal to reduce LRSD's bloated administration. I hope that others will see that making these needed changes now can have a positive impact on the future of LRSD students and teachers. About a dozen LRSD schools will be involved in restructuring and the district needs to put its best people to work in these buildings.

For the sake of the district, some of those associate superintendents, administrative directors, and instructional IRC staff need to get out of their offices and go back to help these schools with their talents and expertise. Likewise, get rid of all those ineffective programs that are just a drain on resources, time, and productivity.

I think what the board is telling the superintendent and the public is that she should trim the fat from the administrative belly and not cut the muscle from the teacher limbs that move and handle the front-line work of the district. And, do it so the district can address its most serious need: reducing disparities for its large African-American student population.

On cutting teachers remeber, its not the number of teachers, its what they teach. With so many specialty teachers, elective teachers, etc. It may seem superinflated, but they are experts at what they do. Cutting teachers will increase class size, thus lowering student achievement. I'm all in favor of going back to the basics, forming a coop for the extras and trimming the fat in the form of administrative and programming cuts. Early retirement is a good option as well. Would it tickle you to know that the jobs LW is trying to save are for people with 30 + years in education who should be retiring anyway?