LITTLE ROCK — LR schools, union hit tentative deal
Negotiating teams for the Little Rock School District and the Little Rock Education Association reached a tentative agreement last week on the noncost provisions of a new contract for teachers in the 25,000-student district, the state’s largest.
The proposed language, including changes to the grievance procedures, has been sent to attorneys to review and will go to a ratification vote of union members and then to the School Board, probably during the week of Dec. 17.
The Little Rock Education Association, formerly the Little Rock Classroom Teachers Association, is the union that represents the district’s teachers and support staff.
Dan Whitehorn, the district’s chief negotiator, and Cathy Koehler, president of the association, in separate interviews raved about the collegiality that resulted from their use this year of “interest-based” negotiations.
The system calls for the negotiating teams to mutually identify concerns and develop solutions as opposed to the more traditional and oftentimes more confrontational approach of trading proposals until a compromise is reached.
“This interest-based bargaining is the most wonderful thing I’ve ever been through,” Whitehorn said. “You sit down together and work through it together. We got everything out on the table. We got to see each other’s perspective.”
“I teared up,” Koehler said about the conclusion of the talks. “So much of what we did in the past was based on distrust. Because we took the time and built up the trust, the administration believed we weren’t in it just to get everything for the teachers and [teachers] believed that the administration was honestly, genuinely concerned about teacher welfare.”
Two schools see benchmark strides
The Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville last week highlighted south Mississippi County School District’s Luxora Elementary School and Pine Bluff School District’s Southeast Middle School for achievement gains on the Arkansas Benchmark Exam over five years.
In that time, the Mississippi County school had a 50 percent increase in pupils who scored proficient or better on the math and literacy portions of the test. Scoring proficient on the state test is indicative of achieving at grade level.
Southeast Middle School increased its percentage of students scoring proficient or better on the math test by 36 percent.
Both schools have a very high percentages of children from low-income families.
The database showing all schools and their percentages of growth or decline over five years is available on an Office for Education Policy website: officeforedpolicy.com/author/officeforedpolicy.
LR history teacher
wins state honor
Sonja Williams, an American-history teacher at Little Rock’s Hall High School, is the 2012 Arkansas History Teacher of the Year named by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and Preserve America.
The honor was announced last week by Arkansas Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell, who called Williams a gifted educator who is able to bring history to life for her students.
Williams, who holds national certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, will receive a $1,000 honorarium and have the opportunity to further her studies at a summer teaching institute. In her honor, a collection of history books and educational materials will be presented to Hall’s library.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, founded in 1994 by Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman, is a nonprofit organization devoted to the improvement of history education. Preserve America, a federal partnership program started in 2003, is led by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and encourages community efforts to preserve the cultural heritage of the United States, as well as associated natural resources.
Possible funds cut inspires resolution
An 8.2 percent cut in federal funding as envisioned by the federal Budget Control Act of 2011 would cost the Little Rock School District as much as $1.6 million, the loss of which could result in cuts in services such as summer school and after-school programs, district leaders said last week.
The Little Rock School Board passed a resolution telling Congress and the president that a “world class public education” system is “essential for the future success of our nation.”
The board further asked lawmakers to amend the Budget Control Act by the end of this calendar year “to mitigate the drastic cuts to education” and “protect education as an investment critical to economic stability and American competitiveness.”
Arkansas, Pages 14 on 12/09/2012