Little Rock puts own education chief in place; ex-state board member Barth to lead city’s efforts on ‘community schools’

“Local control is returning to the Little Rock School District. The question is no longer whether, but how,” Jay Barth said Friday of Little Rock’s public school initiatives.
“Local control is returning to the Little Rock School District. The question is no longer whether, but how,” Jay Barth said Friday of Little Rock’s public school initiatives.

Jay Barth, a former state Board of Education member and retiring college professor, will coordinate education initiatives for the city of Little Rock starting in January.

Mayor Frank Scott Jr. announced Friday that Barth, 53, has been hired as the city's first chief education officer. It's a new position in City Hall, and the latest development in the city's increased involvement in its schools in recent months.

The main part of Barth's duties will be implementing a community-schools model at a yet-to-be determined number of schools within the Little Rock School District. The idea is to make schools in disadvantaged areas into community "hubs" that offer a variety of wraparound services to students and their families. Those could include after-school and summer programs, social and mental health workers, and meal programs.

"This will be a rejuvenation in opportunity for young people living in our most fragile neighborhoods," Barth said Friday at City Hall.

The hiring comes as five years of state control of the Little Rock School District come to an end. Arkansas Board of Education members are exploring what local control will look like and are drafting a memorandum of understanding that involves the Education Board, the district and the city in developing and operating the model for those community schools.

"Local control is returning to the Little Rock School District," Barth said. "The question is no longer whether, but how."

Barth's seven-year term on the state Education Board expired in June, and he spent two of those years as the chairman. He is currently the M.E. and Ima Graves Peace Professor of Politics and director of the Arkansas Policy Program at Hendrix College in Conway, with plans to retire Dec. 31.

He's received numerous awards for his research and teaching, which focus on Southern politics, state government and politics, gay and transgender politics, political communication, and the achievement gap in Arkansas.

"I think it's an exciting thing, and we just couldn't have picked a better person," Little Rock schools Superintendent Mike Poore said, adding that Barth is a rare type who understands how all the bureaucracies involved work.

Poore said he hoped Barth would become the "glue of all the moving parts" in a district transitioning from state control. Based on recent discussions, Poore said, the state Education Board may step back and leave the community-schools plan up to the city and the district.

He said district staff members had done a needs assessment, but hoped Barth would act as a liaison in working with the community to identify needs.

Poore said the community-schools model could include eight to 12 of the district's 48 schools.

"You can't forget that Little Rock is ahead of things," he added. "We've already been doing some things, we just have gaps."

Funding for the new position in the city's 2020 budget will come from the allocation for the Department of Community Programs. The city will pay Barth $28.65 an hour for the part-time role, and the Little Rock Public Education Foundation will provide additional funding that has not yet been finalized, Scott said.

"He's giving us a good deal," Scott said, touting Barth's service to Little Rock and the state. "It's definitely not what he is worth."

Beyond community schools, Barth also will work with other schools in Little Rock that aren't in the district, as well as higher-education institutions. He will focus on initiatives dealing with literacy, chronic absenteeism, out-of-school programs, 529 college-savings plans, Little Rock Promise scholarships and workforce development, the mayor's office said.

Elected officials including Sen. Will Bond, D-Little Rock, Rep. Tippi McCullough, D-Little Rock, and Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, praised the choice on social media.

"Building an exciting community school model will change the future for many kids," Bond said on Twitter, noting that Barth could also focus on growing the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Arkansas Education Association President Carol Fleming attended Friday's announcement at City Hall, and the statewide teachers organization issued a statement in support of Barth and the community-school model.

"Mayor Frank Scott's announcement today ensures the city's work to support our students and schools will be led by someone with a proven track record of advocating for public education in our state and in Little Rock," the statement said.

The local chapter of the organization's response differed. In a post on the Facebook page for the Little Rock Education Association, Teresa Knapp Gordon wrote that Fleming's attendance did not indicate that the Little Rock union was supportive of the hire, and that she was not consulted before the announcement.

Gordon said that Barth's appointment "could be a good thing if, and only if," Little Rock got a school board with full authority back.

"As LREA president, I would love to work with the mayor, the superintendent and Jay to collaborate on solving the societal issues that cause our children to experience trauma and not be able to focus on academics," she wrote.

The city anticipates targeting $500,000 of its prevention, intervention and treatment dollars in 2020 to support the community schools model.

photo

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STATON BREIDENTHAL

Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. (background, second from right) listens as Hendrix College professor Jay Barth, the city’s newly named chief education officer, speaks at City Hall on Friday.

photo

Teresa Knapp Gordon

A Section on 12/07/2019

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