Numbers and the new year

— This year expires in three days, which means another year gets underway in four.

The changing of the calendar is a good time for a status check. How does Arkansas measure up in various categories and comparisons with other states?

There are best and worst lists for states in a number of topics, and how Arkansas lines up at the end of this year is a good place to plan resolutions for next year.

Nearly 3 million of us call Arkansas home, and that census ranks us 31st among all states in population.

One of the more interesting state comparisons recently published is the list of Best- and Worst-Run States, calculated by 247WallSt.com, which derived its order from the analysis of five broad metrics: debt per capita, budget deficit, unemployment, median household income and percentage living beneath the poverty line.

Arkansas landed at number 32, shining in the budget deficit (zero) and debt per capita (4th lowest in the nation) categories, but dismal in income (48th) and poverty percentage (4th highest).

Another interesting compilation is the annual Best States for Business list compiled by CNBC, which scores states on 51 measures of competitiveness, which are then grouped into ten weighted categories.

Arkansas earned the 20th spot in the list, thanks in large part to low cost ratings—we were second in the nation in low cost of business, and fifth lowest in cost of living.

Scores that hurt our position smacked of familiarity: 43rd in quality of life (into which healthiness, crime and education factor) and 41st in technology and innovation.

Corollary rankings in a couple of other lists show Arkansas trending in the right direction as a businessfriendly state as well.

The Tax Foundation ranks Arkansas 33rd overall for Business Tax Climate in fiscal year 2013. The Institute for Legal Reform ranked states in terms of Lawsuit Climates, and while Arkansas’ 35th place showing isn’t spectacular, it’s significantly better than the mid-40s rankings we’ve averaged over the last decade.

We’re considered one of the least healthy states in the most recent America’s Health Rankings, slipping to an overall 48th spot, down from 47th last year. Some key core areas where our disparately poor scores brought our overall rating down included smoking and obesity. Teen birth rates and violent crime were also contributing factors.

Sporting the third highest teen birth rate in the country contributes to Arkansas’s poor showing in state rankings of children living in poverty as well. Our one-in-four percentage of impoverished children lands us behind 45 other states.

Our teen birth rate shouldn’t be 50 percent higher than the national average, and more than twice the rate of 10 other states. That’s something worth resolving to address and improve.

Crime is a scourge that does damage to communities economically and socially. The dark cloud over Arkansas is our consistent ranking among the top ten states for violent crime. The silver lining is that Arkansas ranks 46th in hate crimes, with a mere 11 incidents reported in all of 2011.

A good 2013 resolution would be true gun control, in which a completely separate penalty structure is applied to gun-toting criminals. The ubiquitous existence of firearms makes policing access to guns all but impossible.

A better approach is to stigmatize gun crimes, resolving to be one of the top ten states with Tough Gun Crime Penalties.

If there’s any meaning at all to “punishment should fit the crime” thinking, then gun crimes deserve the harshest punishment.

Arkansans’ affinity for tobacco is enigmatic, at least in the context of binge drinking, where temperate state residents set the fifth-best example in the union. A 2013 resolution to curb lighting up (especially among youth) would be worth getting behind.

Knowledge is power, including economic power, and it’s a problem that in the 247WallSt.com’s Best- and Worst-Educated States list that Arkansas trailed only Mississippi and West Virginia on the “worst” list.

Scoring criteria included high school graduation rate and percentage of college educated, both categories where we continue to struggle. We’ve made gains in teachers’ salaries (Arkansas is 15th in the country in percentage growth of teachers’ pay between 2000-2011) and quality standards, as chronicled in Education Week’s Quality Counts 2012 state scorecard. Arkansas earned the fifth best grade, and was one of only nine states to get a “B” (there were no As).

But where the rubber meets the road in education is in the classroom, and that critical area often gets the least focus in policy discussions. A great 2013 resolution would be to become the national leader in focusing on classroom dynamics and empowering teachers. And a great place to start would be to host a retired teacher symposium, inviting teachers from across the country to attend, and asking them to identify the most pressing problems and offer practical, time-proven solutions.

Perhaps the best resolution we can make as a state is to use the various “best” lists as guidance to kick the habit of fixing what ain’t broke in 2013.

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Dana D. Kelley is a freelance writer from Jonesboro.

Editorial, Pages 13 on 12/28/2012

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