OPINION - EDITORIAL

Definition of a crisis

What else would you call this?

The three worst schools in Arkansas are three of the five high schools in Little Rock--J.A. Fair, McClellan, and Hall. That's not according to us; that's according to the state of Arkansas, which just released the ratings for all 1,034 public schools in the state.

If this is not an educational crisis, what would a crisis look like? Certainly preventing black students from going to school with white students in 1957 created a crisis. But what about assigning low-income and minority students to failing schools--and doing nothing about improving those schools?

Unfortunately, far too many people don't consider this situation to be a crisis. It's simply the status quo--one they are willing to live with, both now and in the future.

Little Rock's Cloverdale is 13th from the bottom, and Henderson is 41st from the bottom. Out of 1,034 schools. Both of these failing middle schools feed failing high schools.

Four of those schools have an F rating from the state--Henderson has a D. These are five of the six schools that put the Little Rock School District in academic distress and caused the state takeover of the school district.

The state has had supervision of the district for four years now. How would you rate its management of these schools? Would you give it an F? The state has a year left to improve the schools. How much would you wager that it will get the job done in 12 more months?

Now consider this: Taxpayers in Little Rock are spending $100 million to build one of the most expensive schools in Arkansas history to merge two failing schools, J.A. Fair and McClellan. If the leaders who made this decision think a new building is going to solve the education problems in the schools, they simply haven't consulted the research. It shows that buildings, no matter how new and shiny, don't improve education.

It's quality teachers and principals that improve education.

Why are these kids getting such a poor education? Consider this: At Hall High, there are 10 classrooms devoted to teaching English as a second language. We've been told that only one of the 10 teachers speaks Spanish. If you were confronted with such a problem, wouldn't you find the teachers who spoke Spanish, even if you had to pay them more, maybe $5,000 a year more?

Of course you would, but the principal at Hall High does not have the authority to do that. He is blocked by the teachers' union contract that prevents such a common-sense approach.

Arkansas law permits waivers. So the state, which is responsible for the schools, does not have to abide by such nonsensical rules. To seek a waiver, it takes courage, and apparently there's been a great lack of courage by Superintendent Michael Poore, Commissioner Johnny Key, and Governor Asa Hutchinson to do something about these struggling schools.

In 1957, it was the state of Arkansas that created the crisis in the Little Rock schools. Today it's the state of Arkansas that has failed to address the crisis of these five failing schools--which are failing low-income minority students.

With only a little more than a year left, it's time for the state to take action. Past time.

Editorial on 10/16/2018

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