Arkansas PBS pulled two contract requests for educational programming services after a state senator brought up a prospective contractor's personal political views during a subcommittee meeting earlier this month.
The state's public broadcasting network planned to ask for approval for a pair of contracts totaling $260,000 to produce educational content seeking to address learning loss among elementary school children. Funding would come from a federal grant.
At the Dec. 14 meeting of the Review Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, said he had looked at the personal Twitter page of one of the producers, Jesse McMahon, and saw what he described as "radical" views on climate change and the Biden administration's proposed infrastructure package.
"What restrictions are there on making sure, when she produces this curriculum, that it is in the best interest of Arkansas students, and what prevents her from presenting things that may be divisive, diverse, equitable, inclusive?" Sullivan asked.
In an interview on Dec. 20, Sullivan said he believes the views of people to whom the state awards contracts should be "reflective of the views of the state of Arkansas," which is a red state.
Marty Ryall, director of external relations for Arkansas PBS, said the state network will have oversight over everything the producers put together, and that the content will adhere to standards from the Arkansas Department of Education.
Ryall added that Arkansas PBS had considered several people for the contracts and focused on the backgrounds of McMahon and the other producer, Adam Rudman in creating educational content for children. He noted that Rudman had worked on the PBS show Sesame Street, but Sullivan said "Sesame Street has taken a pretty good turn to the left."
"Many people would admit even Big Bird [has] changed and that's my concern is that we're hiring someone to design this who has personal preferences in that direction and I'm very concerned about that," Sullivan said. "I do not want this to go through."
Ryall said he was sensitive to those concerns but reiterated that Arkansas PBS would have oversight of the creative process and said the basic parameters of televised lessons that the network has previously put together in collaboration with the state Department of Education, including Arkansas AMI and Rise and Shine, aren't conducive to what Sullivan was talking about.
State Sen. Joyce Elliot, D-Little Rock, said she had disagreed with a previous decision by Arkansas PBS not to put something on air, which to her was evidence that the oversight process works.
"I really do think we have to be very careful. Even when something was not aired that I thought should have been aired, I respected that fact. When we talk about Arkansas values and when we talk about whether you're left or right, that is a very nebulous kind of way to talk about this," Elliott said. "Like it or not, it was objectively done and objectively applied to the issue that I had and I think that's a good thing whether I liked it or not...My values are not here for me to usurp anybody else's values and in education it is important for our kids to be taught what is objective as we can."
State Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, said he wasn't convinced that Arkansas PBS' oversight was adequate and moved to postpone approving the contracts until they were reviewed further.
Arkansas PBS ultimately decided to pull the request. Ryall said in the Dec. 20 interview that the contracts had come up for approval quickly and with Sullivan and a few other lawmakers having questions, Arkansas PBS felt it was better to delay the request and bring it back up in January after meeting with legislators individually.
Ryall said Arkansas PBS and the state Department of Education will control the content and messaging of the program, but need the producers' expertise to create an entertaining yet educational show. McMahon and Rudman are writers for the PBS show "Nature Cat," of which Rudman is the co-creator.
"It's a niche that there's not a lot of available expertise," he said.
Ryall also noted that in looking at McMahon's writing for children's educational content, "you will see that her personal views don't bleed into her work."
The new series that Arkansas PBS is planning is expected to air in fall 2022.