Little Rock now has an outstanding good old boy (GOB) to lead our schools. As Baker Kurrus said, "You can't unring the bell."
When it became apparent that Mr. Kurrus was an ethical, deep thinker who uses pronouns correctly, he apparently lost his status as a GOB and, therefore, his job at nearly the top. The GOBs gave the new handpicked leader a magic code. You will probably hear him say it often: return to local control, collaborative effort, and world-class career centers.
That code should get him through at least five years nearly at the top. Most importantly, if people power prevails, forcing real collaborative action instead of just words, our new GOB will do no harm and possibly a lot of good. The public will only take so much politicking, and it appears they have reached their limit. I think the GOBs are smart enough to avoid a revolt that could spring from community action they caused that is now taking place in Little Rock.
The last thing we need is to revisit 1957.
The way to ensure real collaboration and a comfortable community would be to appoint Baker Kurrus as Chief Collaborator of the Little Rock School District. Mr. Kurrus could begin immediately securing properties along the major traffic corridors for creating School Villages and light-rail lines to serve both the Villages and the city. The federal government would pay at least half the cost of adding the attractive train ambience for our city made affordable by school use.
Villages are the epitome of collaboration. Besides shared transportation, Villages offer the community auditoriums, athletic fields, playgrounds, libraries, classrooms, cafeterias, exhibit halls, museums and such when not in use by the students.
The Villages will be modeled after the outstanding education done in Finland. Could we have Finnish-type schools in Little Rock, Arkansas? Yes, of course, that is possible and the perfect places to start are the just-bought Leisure Arts property and the Mabelvale land. Under Kurrus' direction, we can create the first two Villages. Eventually, all the areas of the city desiring a Village would get them through his efforts.
Villages are a unique blend of charter and regular schools. They have the autonomy of a charter without the selectivity, and they get total financial support from the district. They encourage strong character development by keeping children together on one campus or in buildings so close as to be considered a single campus. The closeness over many years help children form sturdy, family-like bonds.
Until age 7, there would be no formal instruction, with the children learning through daily activity, and having recess periods every hour devoted to free play. In Finland, children under 7 spend only half a day in school. In Little Rock, a half-day would create a hardship on working parents, thus after lunch, parents have a choice of picking up their children or leaving them in school. School will be so much fun that the children will probably ask to stay all day.
At age 7, formal instruction begins. Teachers use state textbooks and control the progress and presentations. There are only a few (expensive) commercial programs with the teachers creating the curriculum based upon the standards. Until a child reaches the 10th grade, there will be up to six activity breaks a day, and whenever possible they will play outside.
There will be no time wasted on test preparation. Only the time needed to take required tests will impinge on instruction.
The last part of the GOB code, world-class career centers, will become a major part of the Village curriculum. All children will learn to use the basic hand tool common in the United States. Further, upper-level students will have the opportunity to learn skills specific to the needs of Arkansas companies, preparing them for summer jobs or permanent employment after graduation. Finally, Village students will have the opportunity to finish an associate's degree with the cooperation of local colleges.
With an outstanding Chief Collaborator and one of the best GOBs in the state, how can we lose?
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Richard Emmel of Little Rock is a retired teacher.
Editorial on 05/06/2016