Last month, just around the time we were celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King — traditional public school districts in Wake County, North Carolina and in Akron, Ohio took actions to limit the choices of students and, essentially, IMPOSE racially segregated schools on the students. As Brian described earlier on on this site, an Ohio mom is in jail for registering her children at the grandfather’s address (a few miles down the road) to get them into a safer and presumably better school system. Here is CNN’s version of the story.

Down south in North Carolina, earlier in January, the school board successfully overturned the district’s longstanding intentional school integration policy (a policy viewed as successful by most accounts). According to the Washington Post, the policy is one of economic integration and is based on a goal that no school should have more than 40% of its students qualify for free and reduced school lunches. ”The district tried to strike this balance through student assignments and choice, establishing magnet programs in poor areas to draw middle-class kids. Although most students here ride buses to school, officials said fewer than 10 percent are bused to a school to maintain diversity, and most bus rides are less than five miles.”

However, if reading the paper seems like a lot of work … let’s instead learn about this policy shift from the ever-conservative news icon, Stephen Colbert:

Many education observers do not like the idea of segregating students by race, particularly when such segregation is imposed on the most marginal students. We certainly don’t. Some of the crowd who actively oppose racial segregation in schools are — inexplicably — spending their time talking about the levels of racial segregation in charter schools. We think this is silly for lots of reasons. Mostly, it’s because more than 95% of America’s public school students attend traditional public schools while a relative handful attend public charters. Also, segregation is NEVER IMPOSED on students in public charter schools as it can be in traditional public schools.  Yet, many who claim to speak for students and for their civil rights are unfortunately attacking public charter schools, which serve fewer than 5% of students nationwide and serve 0% of them against their will.

Perhaps these defenders of the status quo … excuse me, I mean defenders of students … should stop looking for ways to undermine charter schools (such as KIPP) and instead focus their criticism on the traditional public school leaders, such as those in Akron and Wake County, who are doing their best every day to separate their white wealthy students from their disadvantaged peers by promoting explicit segregation-friendly policies.

It’s session time down in Little Rock, which, among other things, signals the arrival of a certain amount of legislative silliness.

First, we have State Sen. Bruce Holland, (R-Greenwood), who reportedly led a sheriff’s deputy on a high speed chase yesterday, reaching speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour.  Did the act land him in jail?  Nope.  Was he issued a hefty ticket?  Nah.  The deputy who finally got him to pull over was mistakenly under the impression that state legislators had immunity from traffic laws while they travel to and from legislative sessions.

Next, Senator Jim Jeffress (D-Crossett) is making national headlines for his plan to ban pedestrians from wearing headphones.  According to the LA Times, Jeffress’ bill would ban pedestrians from wearing headphones while “close to a street, intersection, or highway.” 

I suppose with State Senator Bruce Holland tearing up the streets, wearing headphones may limit a pedestrian’s ability to get out of the way in time.  Then again, maybe Jeffress should focus on his fellow legislator’s driving habits, and leave pedestrians alone.

Finally, Rep. Jim Nickels (D-Sherwood) wants to force contractors into playing the role of immigration agents.  House Bill 1013 proposes to revoke the licenses of contractors if they hire illegal aliens or hire sub-contractors who hire illegal aliens.  So, presumably, every contractor would have to check the documentation of every employee of every subcontractor (plumbers, electricians, roofers, cement companies, painters, etc.) before doing business with them.  As contractors have pointed out, such a requirement places an undue burden on them, and it is unfair to impose this burden only on contractors.

What the contractors aren’t comfortable saying (though I’m sure plenty of them believe it) is that a lot of this whining about how illegal immigrants take jobs away from Americans is nonsensical.  Contractors (and everyone else) should be able to hire whoever they think can deliver the highest quality work for the best price.  We aren’t doing ourselves any favors by limiting who is allowed to work in this country.  But, like we saw in last year’s Senate race, hating on immigrants is still considered a winning political strategy.

You wouldn’t want to piss off these guys, would you?

There’s been a few interesting education-related stories in the news lately.

First, the Demo-Gaz recently reported that some students in rural Pope County–who spend up to 2 hours a day riding the school bus–are getting an education via video screens courtesy of Vanderbilt University’s Aspirnaut Program.  The specific program, Online, On the Bus! seems like a novel way to use the power of technology to deliver quality content to students burdened with long bus rides.  Other components of the program include kids taking online courses on laptops.  Foes of school consolidation might see the program as a silver lining, and one certainly worthy of additional state investment.  Gee, if only there was some extra cash lying around.

Well, actually there is some extra cash lying around–$90 million to be exact.  In today’s news, it was announced that teachers in about half of Arkansas’ school districts will receive bonuses this month as a result of the state receiving $90 million in federal stimulus money.  You can read the Demo-Gaz coverage here.  According to the article, Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell said that about half of the districts plan to blow their share of the funds (my words, not his) on one-time teacher bonuses of $500 to $700 dollars.  By all indications, nothing about the dispersal of the bonuses will be tied to any merit-based reward system.  The money will simply be doled out to teachers indiscriminately.  Some lawmakers, including Rep Jonathan Dismang (R- Beebe) expressed disappointment that the funds were being awarded with little guidance and could have been used in more productive ways than across the board bonuses.  School districts are able to use the money for other projects, such as construction projects.  It will be interesting to see if the other half of schools (who are not giving out across the board teacher bonuses) are able to come up with better ways to invest the dollars.

Also, in today’s news, the Arkansas Board of Education approved  new standards to help track student growth on state tests.  The growth model contains some goofy qualities, but overall the move is a step in the right direction.  You can read the Demo-Gaz coverage here.

Here’s the youtube video of Bentonville Sheriff Deputy Dana Winn arresting 64 year old John Lewis for not showing him enough respect.  A bad move on the deputy’s part, who needs a few lessons regarding the 4th and 5th amendments.  People like their liberty here in NWA, a fact that Deputy Winn doesn’t seem to appreciate.  That said, Lewis fared better than others who have come into contact with NWA law enforcement officials.  At least he wasn’t shot, raped, or locked up in a cell without food or drink for days.

As reported in the NWA Times, Lewis had sunglasses on that recorded the video.

In this vid, the deputy actually seems like a nice guy.  Just oblivious to the fact that Mr. Lewis takes his rights seriously.

Here’s a link to the third and fourth video. They are pretty uneventful, but the fourth vid does have a lengthy written response from Mr. Lewis.  He admits to being rude, but stands by his assertion that his rights were violated.

The Dem-Gaz reported on Saturday that the Arkansas Department of Education overpaid 4 school districts to the tune of $2.6 million dollars–and now they want the money back.  This is an obvious accounting fiasco, and it is mind-boggling that the state didn’t catch such a glaring error.  Maybe  State Treasurer Martha Shoffner has been too busy evading taxes on state provided vehicles and calling the governor’s bodyguards “manservants” to bust out an excel sheet and do some simple calculations.  $2.6 million is a major oversight.

The districts who were overpaid are Armorel, Eureka Springs, West Side, and Fountain Lake.

Judging from the comments from some school officials, the workings of the state’s complicated funding formula are not well understood.

For those who don’t know the basics of the funding formula, here’s a few key points.  Every district must levy at least 25 mils, otherwise known as the uniform rate of tax.  This money is considered “state money,” and is one of the key revenue sources for state education funding.  The state then pays out $6,023 per student back to the districts, no matter how much each district pays in.  Districts who raised less than $6,023 per student (from the first 25 mils), in effect, gain money from this system, and districts who raised more than $6,023 per student (from the first 25 mils) lose money.  The problem in this case is that the 4 districts in question raised more than $6,023 per student from the first 25 mils, and then the state mistakenly gave them all of that money back.

Why is this a problem?  Becuase the spirit of the funding formula’s design is to achieve some equalization in spending.  The funds from the 25 mils go to the state,  and the state in turn funds each district the same.

Eureka Springs Superintendent Wayne Carr, regarding a recent millage vote, was quoted as saying:

“Our patrons are mostly retired, and they overwhelmingly passed a millage increase [for the high school],” he said. “But if I’m a retired person, and I know that whatever excess is going to the state, that would affect my vote probably.”

Wrong!  If a district wants to charge 26 mils, 27 mils, or 1,000 mils, they get to keep all of the money raised above and beyond the 25 mil rate.  Asking voters to approve a millage increase above 25 mils is precisely how localities can raise additional revenue for themselves without having the state redistribute the funds.  But, the funds from the first 25 mils belong to the state.

The 4 districts in question will likely need to work out a method to pay back the money.  At the same time, the State Treasurer needs to explain how they lost track of $2.6 million.

 A disturbing report from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families has found that 84% of Arkansas’ schools are not properly using the funds they receive to help high-poverty children.  Here is the AACF press release (with my own emphasis added):

“Arkansas schools routinely fail to spend millions of dollars meant to help their poorest students catch up to their peers, according to an analysis of education spending data by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.

Many school districts are rolling over poverty funds from year to year instead of investing in proven programs that help close the educational achievement gap between minority and poor children and their peers. At the end of the 2008-2009 academic year, schools were sitting on more than $25 million in unspent state-provided poverty money-called National School Lunch Act funds because the money is apportioned according to the number of students whose low family incomes make them eligible for free meals.

Only 31 of 257 Arkansas districts and charter schools-just 12 percent of schools-spent all their NSLA money in the year it was intended, according to the report “Carried Over,” the 50^th issue of AACF’s Paychecks and Politics series.

Fifty four districts carried over more than 20 percent of their poverty money at the end of the 2008-2009 year.

“Not only are many schools sitting on this poverty money year after year, many aren’t spending the money in ways that will promote greater opportunities to learn and best close the educational achievement gap,” said Rich Huddleston, AACF executive director. “Children living in high-poverty areas are missing out on an early chance to catch up to their peers when schools stockpile money intended to help them.”

Research by AACF shows that certain approaches have the greatest potential to close the academic achievement gap between minority and poor students and their peers. They are:

• High-quality before- and after-school and summer programs.
• High-quality early childhood education.
• School initiatives that promote student health.

Just 12 percent of the $157.8 million sent to Arkansas schools in the 2008/2009 school year to help poor students was spent on these proven programs. That means thousands of children whose poverty status drew extra money to their district didn’t benefit from it in the most effective way possible.

The 2009 Arkansas General Assembly considered but didn’t pass Senate Bill 987, which would have restricted the amount of NSLA money and other “categorical” funds that schools could carry over. The bill proposed limiting it to 20 percent.

“NSLA funding has great potential for promoting greater opportunities to learn and should be increased when our economy rebounds. However, with each public penny tighter than ever, lawmakers in January should require school districts to spend these state funds the way the Legislature intended,” Huddleston said. “These kids can’t wait and our economy can’t wait. If students don’t graduate from school and succeed in college, then Arkansas will suffer.”

Huddleston also recommends that parents ask local school districts and school boards whether local poverty money is being spent on proven strategies with the most potential to close the achievement gap.

In addition, the report recommends that Arkansas require schools to demonstrate what impact the poverty money they spend has on helping low-income children improve their academic achievement.”

UPDATE: The movie is now playing at the Rogers Towne Cinema.

You’ve probably seen the computer animated news stories that have been coming out of Taiwan, right?  Well, now they have a report on Davis Guggenheim’s Waiting for Superman.  It’s incredibly accurate.

There was some bizarre news out of Little Rock on Monday.  First,  LRSD attorney Chris Heller spoke on behalf of the LRSD and voiced support for a new charter school proposed to help former high school dropouts.  Apparently, LRSD’s opposition to charter schools isn’t absolute.  The state Board tabled the decision for a month.

The State Board of Education also approved a new charter school that will open in Pine Bluff–the Pine Bluff Lighthouse Charter School. The parent organization, Lighthouse Academies, currently operates 14 schools in 5 states.

The Pine Bluff school district, naturally, opposed the charter.  District superintendent, Frank Anthony, spoke against the charter and engaged in a bizarre whine-fest, saying that his school would lose the state funding the district receives for the students who transfer to charters.  The Dem-Gaz reported that board member Brenda Gullett asked Anthony whether “he would deny any of his students a high-quality education even if it was provided by an organization other than his district”  (btw, kudos to Brenda for the good question).

Anthony replied, “I currently have 4,800 babies, and I would not want 4,100 of them to suffer because 700 of them left, losing that revenue would put those students in jeopardy.”

Aww, boo-hoo.  Anthony doesn’t want to let his babies leave his district, even if their PARENTS decide otherwise.  And if they do, it will hurt his other babies.

Ok, time to point out the obvious and not-so obvious.  First of all, Pine Bluff doesn’t just lose state student funding when students leave for charter schools, the also no longer have to educate those students.  In those simple terms, the amount of per-pupil money left for Anthony to take care of his babies doesn’t change at all.  But a lesser known fact is that while the district loses out on state funding, they get to keep 100% of all local funding.  Never mind the fact that most of the students who transfer to charter schools also live in the district and their parents pay taxes in the district.  That money still stays with the Pine Bluff school district regardless, while the charters have to make do with less.  So, in truth, the more students that leave to attend charter schools, the more money-per-pupil Anthony has to take care of his 4,100 babies.

Three other proposed charter schools were denied.  You can read the full Dem-Gaz article here.

The Arkansas Department of Education released its adequate yearly progress (AYP) report for schools today. You can find the press release here, the school improvement list here, and a wealth of info on school accountability in Arkansas here. The paragraph below provides a summary of this year’s results taken from the press release.

Forty-one percent, or 446, of Arkansas public schools made Achieving status this year on the state’s 2009-2010 adequate yearly progress (AYP) list, which is required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Achieving schools made AYP as determined by the performance of their students on the state’s Benchmark exams. The bar for meeting AYP is higher than last year, with more than 64 percent of students required to score proficient or better on the exams for schools to meet adequate yearly progress this year to meet AYP. Another 209 schools missed the mark for AYP for the first year, placing them in Alert status, while 420 Arkansas public schools are now in some phase of school improvement.

You never know what you’re going to get when Arkansas makes a splash in the national media.  It could be a 10 year-old leading a gay pride parade, or a jailer getting fired for appearing in Playboy.

Well, this week it’s  an Arkansas School Board Member using Facebook to show the world what a big jerk he is (and showing what a gud spelir he is two).  From the Huffington Post:

“An Arkansas School Board member recently launched an inflammatory anti-gay tirade on Facebook that ran the gamut from basic bigoted slurs, to encouraging “fags” to commit suicide and announcing that he’d disown his own children if they were gay.

In response to a a massively popular Facebook initiative to show support for gay youths in response to a recent wave of suicides, Clint McCance, a board member in the Midland school district in northern Arkansas, wrote this screed, provided to the Advocate:

“Seriously they want me to wear purple because five queers killed themselves. The only way im wearin it for them is if they all commit suicide. I cant believe the people of this world have gotten this stupid. We are honoring the fact that they sinned and killed thereselves because of their sin. REALLY PEOPLE.” The reaction to the post was both positive and negative, the Advocate reports. McCance responded to one detractor, saying:

“No because being a fag doesn’t give you the right to ruin the rest of our lives. If you get easily offended by being called a fag then dont tell anyone you are a fag. Keep that shit to yourself. I dont care how people decide to live their lives. They dont bother me if they keep it to thereselves. It pisses me off though that we make a special purple fag day for them. I like that fags cant procreate. I also enjoy the fact that they often give each other aids and die. If you arent against it, you might as well be for it.” After one commenter invoked McCance’s Christianity and his willingness to seemingly talk hatefully about the families of other people, McCance wrote back:

“I would disown my kids they were gay. They will not be welcome at my home or in my vicinity. I will absolutely run them off. Of course my kids will know better. My kids will have solid christian beliefs. See it infects everyone.” Towleroad has detailed screenshots of the dialogue.

A Facebook page entitled “Fire Clint McCance” has since popped up, already mustering the support of nearly 12,000 people at the time of publication.

Protesters have also started a petition to Dean Stanley, Superintendent of the Midland School District, calling from the removal of McCance from the board.”

UPDATE: Anderson Cooper coverage here:

And Arklansas’ own Max Brantley made it on MSNBC: