Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday spoke to the Rotary Club of Little Rock and touched on topics including student assessments and his recent economic development trip to Europe.
The governor told Rotarians that his priority is high education standards in Arkansas. He said he chose to leave to Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, because of a decline of participating states in the testing consortium.
On Monday, Hutchinson issued a letter to Education Commissioner Johnny Key directing him to cut ties with the group of nine states and Washington, D.C., that created the PARCC tests, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.
The state Board of Education voted earlier this month to not accept Hutchinson's recommendation to discontinue using the PARCC tests and instead use tests from ACT Inc.
The governor said he learned after the board's vote that he could sever ties with PARCC through a memorandum of understanding that says when a new governor or chief state school officer takes office, he has a choice about whether to continue the partnership within five months of taking office. Hutchinson cited the memorandum in his letter to Key, which he said he worked on during a trip to Europe to promote bringing more businesses and jobs to Arkansas.
Two education board members' terms expire June 30, and another member has stepped down because of job obligations, and Hutchinson said he plans to appoint three new members by the board's July 9 meeting. The governor said those new appointees do not have to agree with his views on PARCC testing but he expects them to be "open-minded" and focused on students and education in the state.
Hutchinson acknowledged that the board "has a legitimate point" about needing to accept competitive bids from several testing vendors. He said he has no specific deadline in mind for selecting a new student assessment for the next school year, but he feels the board has time to accept testing vendors' bids before spring testing.
The governor focused most of his speech to the Rotary Club on his trip to Europe. Hutchinson said he spent six "hard" days in France and Germany to recruit more companies to the state, as well as to expand companies' presences in Arkansas.
"Global engagement by the governor or the leader of the state is absolutely essential for fighting for jobs in this global arena," Hutchinson said of his trip. "This is necessary in today's world of economic global competition."
He attended the Paris Air Show, where Arkansas was represented for the first time with a booth for state businesses with French ties to recruit other industries to the state, he said.
Later, in he met with multiple firms in Germany, where he talked with an automobile manufacturer who does not do much business in America because of export tariffs. The governor said he supports President Barack Obama's push for fast-track trade agreements so that more industries might come to the United States, and possibly Arkansas.
"This is a very significant issue," Hutchinson said. "It's not just the opportunity to bring jobs to the state but for industries that already have a presence here."
Hutchinson also told Rotarians that his computer science initiative, approved during the past regular legislative session, was a talking point to businesses during his European trip. He said his goal is to have 20 percent of Arkansas students taking computer science or coding classes within four years.
"This is a great opportunity for our state to lead the nation," Hutchinson said, as Arkansas is the only state to mandate computer science class offerings.
See Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.