My, my, but what a lot of back-and-forth in the papers these past few days about Little Rock's ever-troubled school district, and whether the state should finally step in and do what's right. That is, take over the district.
The most delicious part of this foofaraw may have been when one of the school board's huffier pieces of deadwood, Ms. Dianne Curry, said she was "insulted" by another member's sending the state a letter noting that (a) the school board was dysfunctional, and (b) tended to micromanage the superintendent. Both observations are indisputable.
Indeed, dysfunction is a mild understatement for the kind of "leadership" members of the school board like Ms. Curry have provided year after disappointing year. Then, of course, after being insulted for being called a micromanager, Ms. Curry felt called on to explain why she sees the need to micromanage.
What fun--but only for readers. It isn't for the kids left at the mercy of a school district that has been the very embodiment of academic distress.
It seems the culprit who started all this was good ol' John Riggs, a former member of the school board and staunch supporter of Little Rock's public schools for decades, who contributed a column to Arkansas' Newspaper over the weekend. His conclusion: The school board of the state's largest district wasn't working for the kids, and needs to be taken over by the state. Which led Leslie Fisken, who currently sits on the board, to write to the state calling other members rude and inconsiderate and patronizing toward the school superintendent, Dexter Suggs--a good man caught up in this royal mess and trying to do the best he can despite it all.
All of which was followed by the usual Did Not, Did Too, Did Not, Did Too.
Our considered editorial opinion: Mr. Riggs and Ms. Fisken are right. And if Dianne Curry is insulted by their statements, she can get over it easily enough.
Imagine how insulting all this must be to all those kids left to the mercy of Little Rock's six failing schools.
Imagine how insulting it must be to their parents when the papers report that not even half of the kids at those schools test as proficient year after year.
Imagine how insulting it must be to those same parents who have to tell their kids they still must go to a failing school every day. For all the good it does them.
The state's Board of Education is scheduled to meet this week. Maybe sometime today it will make a decision about whether to recommend that the state take control of Little Rock's school district. What would that mean for the district? There are all kinds of options in the law. The state's Board of Education could go as far as to take control of the district away from the school board and remove the school superintendent, as it's done in Pulaski County's school district.
But here's a better option if it's available: The state could get rid of Little Rock's school board--but keep the superintendent.
Dexter Suggs is new enough as a superintendent. Which is nothing new for Little Rock's schools. Superintendents don't seem to last long in that district once they decide they'd like to improve education. Especially if that means fighting the teachers' unions, the entrenched bureaucracy, and all the deadwood in the district in general. Dexter Suggs hasn't had time to make a significant difference. The state should give him that time.
No, a state take-over of Little Rock's school district is not a long-term solution to what ails Little Rock's schools. But suppose a state take-over could oust the district's entrenched bureaucracy, consign the union bosses to the sidelines, and shelve all their voluminous contracts with the district.
Imagine if the state could put ineffective teachers, principals and school board members out of work--and give a decent school superintendent a real chance to improve education for those kids. Now that sounds like a pretty good fix. At least for a while.
Then the rest of us could begin talking about long-term fixes. Such as:
--Encouraging more charter schools.
--Making it easier for teachers to opt out of unions.
--And, for goodness sake, changing state law so that school boards are no longer elected in September but on Election Day. Why not put school boards on the ballot on the day when most people vote? That is, the real Election Day, which falls in November, and has congressmen and presidents and mayors on the ballot, too. School boards deserve to be, too. They're important.
But that's for the future. Kids are in failing schools today because the so-called "adults" in Little Rock's school district aren't doing their job and maybe can't. Those students shouldn't be made to wait any longer.
Note to the state: Take over this school district and give Superintendent Dexter Suggs a real chance to be school superintendent. It's not as if a change at this point could make matters much worse. Indeed, with state support and supervision, Dexter Suggs might do a lot better.
Editorial on 01/08/2015