A state committee formed last year to find ways in which traditional schools and charter schools in Little Rock might cooperate spent time Monday "pingponging" ideas as members begin a push to finalize their recommendations.
The Little Rock Area Public Education Stakeholder Group is organizing its mix of ideas into categories: those that can be done voluntarily by the schools, those that can be done by a third-party organization and those that will require changes in state law or policy to accomplish. Facilities is a possible fourth category the committee contemplated.
The formation of an education service cooperative in Pulaski County -- similar to the 15 education co-ops that serve school districts across the state -- is one proposal that would require changes in policy or even law.
Ann Brown Marshall, a member of the stakeholder group, said she is convinced an educational cooperative in Pulaski County is essential and could serve as "a one-stop shopping center" where people can get to know one another, share ideas and cement relationships, as well as serve as a central resource for school information, computer access and English language assistance.
Cooperatives elsewhere in the state -- each of which serves several school districts -- "are the eyes, ears, nose, throat, heart of a county ... and collaboration came quite naturally," Marshall said.
Marshall also said that she is very concerned about the emphasis on competition among Pulaski County's different schools, calling it debilitating, dangerous and undermining.
"If we say we want collaboration, we need our community to quit stressing the competition," she said. "Because partners are in a collaborative win-win situation, not a one-up situation. We need to adjust the paradigm. Language and words mean a lot."
Committee members also talked Monday about ways to provide parents and others with data on student achievement and achievement gains at individual schools.
Antwan Phillips, a committee member, asked that data on school-by-school student achievement be made readily available.
"That information is important," he said. "It showed that kids were progressing better than people would think in some situations. It was eye-opening to me and I'm knee-deep into this, so I think it would be eye-opening to others as well."
Committee member Dianna Varady urged the committee to recommend the compilation of a comprehensive regional education resource guide that gives school-by-school information on education programs, student support services, discipline policies, staff contact information and transportation availability.
Varady also proposed surveying parents about their school choice decisions for their children.
Committee member Jim McKenzie said there would be value in preparing a master plan of traditional and charter school locations, in part to guard against areas of the city becoming "school deserts," or areas with limited access to schools.
An offshoot of a master school site plan would likely be a school bus transportation plan, McKenzie said.
Committee Chairman Tommy Branch Jr. said he is frequently asked about the limited availability of school bus transportation for charter school students. He questioned whether charter and traditional school students could share bus service.
The Little Rock Area Public Education Stakeholder Group was formed after the Arkansas Board of Education voted last April to get guidance from a "research facilitator" on how to foster collaboration between traditional schools and open-enrollment charter schools.
The committee was appointed by State Education Commissioner Johnny Key and a former chairman of the Education Board to select a consultant and set the parameters for the consultant's work. The use of a consulting firm, however, fell through because the committee didn't have sufficient funding for the hire.
The Education Board's call for guidance on how to generate cooperation among the different kinds of schools came after heated debate in early 2016 over requests by the existing eStem and LISA Academy charter schools to open new campuses within the boundaries of the Little Rock School District.
The charter school operators said the new schools were needed to help relieve long waiting lists of students wanting to enroll in the schools. District leaders argued that the charter school expansions -- which were ultimately approved -- will draw higher achieving, more affluent students, leaving the traditional schools with greater percentages of students with more difficult educational needs and fewer resources to educate them.
The stakeholder group meetings are open to the public. The next meeting is April 24. Each session is live-streamed, recorded and posted on the state Education Department website, arkansased.gov.
Metro on 03/14/2017