Jim Holt, patron saint to book burners and defenders of the rural way of life everywhere, has one little blot on his record, opponent Bill Halter’s campaign points out. He spoke out in 2002 in favor of reducing the number of school districts in Arkansas to 100. That would have taken care of Paron High School, we can assure you.
From a Halter news release:
The Democrat-Gazette reported that “State Rep Jim Holt, vying to switch state legislative bodies, would cut the number of school districts by two-thirds, which he said would save on administrative salaries and provide more money for teachers. On the issue of school consolidation Holt said that rather than 310 the state should have something closer to 100 school districts.” [ Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 9/16/02]
“Jim Holt’s blatant flip-flop definitively demonstrates that he can’t be trusted to be on the side of rural schools,” remarked Bud Jackson. “On the one hand, he said he supports school consolidation to save money. Then on the other hand, he says consolidation won’t save money.”