Arkansawyer

On the care and feeding of CEOs:

You should respect your gut when that internal “he’s insane” flag starts waving, but that doesn’t mean you should stop listening. There’s more data to gather and there are times where an insane approach might be the right thing.

via Brent Simmons

I’m going to try to liveblog this, but my connection is intermittent at best.

{Arkansawyer: I’m now going through and fixing typos.}

From left to right, Will Bond, State Representative, District 44; Sam Ledbetter, State Board member and former representative, District 37; Baker Kurrus, LR School Board member.

Baker Kurrus starts off: Kind things about the LWV, mentions his mother’s participation in the WEC. Never thought that getting out of court would make the LRSD better, didn’t think being in court would make it a lot worse. Do think getting out will help financially, but don’t know how much. LRSD no longer has a CFO. Do have students from out of district attending, but some money for them flows to their host districts. Soon, we’ll be receiving state appropriations for the students in our district, and the legislature has done a good job of allocating that. It’s enough to do a good job, especially in a district like LRSD. We’ve got a tax base of over $2 Billion.

We have a $300 million dollar budget; 9 people who make more than $90k , 28 who make more than $100k. One of the worst districts in putting money into classrooms. 9% of money on central admin; state average 5.2%. If we don’t fix that, we’re in real trouble.

This year, with apples to apples comparison, slightly smaller enrollment than last year. Base funding $5400 per student; if we stay 700 students lower, that’ll cost about $3 Million.

Exploding administrative salaries will demoralize classroom teachers. Successful districts put 60-70% into classroom; we deliver 53%.

State settlement process will phase out desegregation funding over time, and that’s good for all of us.

What’s kept district together since 1958 is a core group of people keeping it together. If we lose that core to charter, private, home schooling, the district will not succeed.

Rep. Will Bond: We’ve been much more aggressive in trying to push the end of the desegregation case. If the state continues the level of funding of the desegregation case, we’ll see a billion dollars soon–$66 Million in these three districts this year. Time to have a phaseout–an equity issue for the state. Act 395 passed, seven-year phaseout–I think that’s fair and expansive. I think this is the best deal the district can get. It’s time for everybody to reach an agreement–best for all districts.

In Jacksonville, we compete with Cabot–increased its enrollment by about 40%; we’ve lost about 25%. We continue to suffer from a competitive disadvantage–state law provides extra funding to growing districts, and they’ve been able to build with that money. Jacksonville/NLR would be one of the top twenty districts in state. Jacksonville AFB not happy with Jacksonville school system–need to improve, keep them happy.

Sam Ledbetter: Notes other state board members present–one, Linda Chesterfield, has joined the panel. Should have invited John Walker, but didn’t think he could make it, given his schedule–my oversight. <Note: John Walker is here.>

The most important thing we do–everything goes back to education. Lower recidivism rate, other costs–all dependent on education.

Omnibus bill a good thing, but some of my colleagues unhappy that we can’t give more grace to marginal and noncompliant districts.

Race is still the issue, has been since my childhood in Camden. In the last year, Supreme Court decision has changed much about how we can use race to keep schools desegregated. Linda has opened my eyes to some of the things that went on when I was younger, that I didn’t see at the time. In Little Rock, we know the history of what’s gone on–the one thing everyone knows when you travel and say you’re from Little Rock. We’ve got some disagreement about how to move the district forward–I’ve got friends on both sides of these contentious issues–the kids are the most important thing.

Linda Chesterfield: Important to resolve this in a way that takes care of the children. Have proposed a two-district solution, rather than the four-district solution. Too many districts in Arkansas as it is–not enough efficiencies in the four-district solution. Detachment–1500 folks can choose to withdraw from a district. We have many enclaves of rich and privileged citizens who can detach from the systems.

We must keep out systems from becoming distressed, from being shut down. Vicious cycle. Last few leaders of Pulaski County district, not men of vision–wasn’t that a nice way of putting it? (Laughter.) Every child should have a beautiful building, technologically successful, state of the art everything–glad we now have facilities distress. Seen too many buildings where cans catch water, floors dangerous. But at the end of the day, without quality teachers, won’t succeed. If we don’t do more, we’ll lose more children to charters. Must do more to make sure that, if national board standards make sense, incorporate them into teacher education. We’ve been laboring in staff development that is nonsensical, makes no difference to children, results in good old boys getting consulting fees for doing nothing. Come to our meeting September 30th at the Capitol. Judge Wilson has sent us a message, to people who think they can make the federal government do something. The state does have an interest–we spend $69 Million a year. Pulaski County has three law firms on this case–quite a bit being spent on this and other things that do not make sense. We (the state) gave up a lot of opportunity when we decided to leave the court case.

Questions from the floor:

Cathy Kohler, president LRCTA: It’s very easy to blame the teachers. Let me ask the three legislators here, what is your responsibility for eroding our student base by raising the charter cap. It’s interesting the one that didn’t fly was the one in NWA which would impact Hispanic students, while they don’t give a flip about African-American students. Why not hold the charter schools accountable when they do not do what they say they will?

Sam Ledbetter: I’m not particularly a proponent of charter schools, though I’m not as opposed to them as you are. From my standpoint as a board member, holding charters accountable is something that I intend to do. There are some indications that not everyone is as resolute in that belief. (Hm?) Turned one down in our last meeting which was just a mess. E-STEM–if they don’t overtly cherry-pick they do it indirectly. It takes a certain type of parent that’s going to get their students in there. Their demographics don’t match the district. Give me the kids of the people who are in here, and even I can teach them. But we need to deal with the thirty percent or so that are failing.

Linda Chesterfield; We got outvoted on that issue. I did not support that. That’s a northwest Arkansas thing. I knew that Little Rock would be the one hurt the most. Competition is here–that’s why I keep going back to standards in teacher education. We’ve given the public schools little to work with. We need our best teachers with the students who need them the most, not the least.

Baker Kurrus: Charters supposed to teach children who are getting least well educated. But a charter school that requires parental involvement, affirmative enrollment, and no transportation, they will self-select better students, and that’s what the charter schools have done. E-STEM is a new district. Lisa Academy is a new district. The losers are the kids who have to try to make it on their own. When E-STEM takes out African-American students who are the highest achieving, that makes our numbers look terrible.

Cathy Kohler: You know I’m national board certified and believe in that certification. But what is the legislature doing to track alternative licensure teachers over time? Putting someone into an academy for two weeks and then putting them into a classroom with students who are so disadvantaged. What are you doing to track that–it does affect our enrollment.

Linda Chesterfield: We have done nothing. We have tried to do so much, but we have failed to do some things. But we don’t have people rushing out of the schools. We have to do a better job of immersion–at KIPP, it struck me that they have two years of student teaching–principalship–before you’re certified as a KIPP teacher. We have six months, nine months–that’s not enough. We have to start with our colleges of education. The universities gripe about the quality of the students we send them–look at the teachers they send us.

Nell Matthews: Devil’s advocate question: Same things said about magnet schools that were said about charter schools, but now we’re scared of losing our magnet schools.

Will Bond: When we talk about a district is too big or too small, north-south split, we don’t do it on data but on our gut. Everybody’s been to school and has an opinion, but are the charters doing harm? We don’t know. Jacksonville has two charter applications–I don’t know who those people are, they’re so dissatisfied. State recommends making north Pulaski County its own distict. Many studies claiming this. Also gives us a chance to leverage our facilities money. If you peel away the emotions, the best thing is to have a north Pulaski district. Three studies say that’s best.

Linda Chesterfield: The Gordon report says that there isn’t the money to support north Pulaski district. (Will Bond says, not so. Linda Chesterfield says, yes it is.) We spend too much money on these reports, which satisfy those who ask for them.

{Arkansawyer: I missed a procedural question about the state seven-year phaseout, but} Will Bond is ending his answer by saying the desegregation case will end, and the legislature will cut the money off as soon as they can. It’s a lot of money, and it’s going to end sometime.

Linda Chesterfield: We have also tried to make sure all the parties are involved. We’d gotten to a point when I was the president of the board where people did not want to speak with those who did not agree with them. There were people who didn’t want to meet with my homeboy John Walker, but I insisted, becaue Joshua has to be at the table. Knight has to be at the table, and to my chagrin, I don’t think Knight is at the table right now. Health care will be affected if we don’t get everyone at the table. It’s going to hurt transportation. But to answer your question, there is only one kind of charter school, a public school. When you have charters, you have conversion charters, and then you have private charters, which are closed entities unto themselves and give nothing back to the district.

Baker Kurrus: To be successful, you have to have a community of interest. Magnet schools had that. Jacksonville thinks they have that, and there’s a case there. Charter schools don’t build that sort of community. People say they support the public schools but have their children elsewhere, but they can’t really do that. We don’t have a community of interest. We have lost the broadbased support we need. Every time you rip students out of our school district, it is a blow we can’t stand. This district is not a punching bag, but it will fall of its own weight if we don’t do something.

John Walker steps to the front: You don’t have very many private schools in one-race community. There, you have public schools. You don’t have charters there. You have charters in biracial communities. What is the reason for them? You may not want to acknowledge it, but that reason is race. Little Rock cannot continue to function with so many administrators making so many large salaries. I agree, but I think there’s a tendency to blame the current board. There is a history behind this of salary raises, and it’s Little Rock who raised the floor. Now most school districts have superintendents who want their $165k, and a lot of them are not worth it–ex-coaches without a record of educational achievement. Administrators’ pay should go hand in hand with teachers’ pay–then you don’t have to give somebody a raise on a whim. One other thing–the gap between black and white students has remained the same over the years. Now, Will is suggesting forming another majority black district. What you’re doing with charter schools, you are trying to find a way to fund the education of white students, who are still the majority in the district. But the private schools do not have any standards for their teachers, yet somehow those children come out better. That’s their community of interest, and its basis is race. We are trying to build a community and it must not be divided. Little Rock is not growing but shifting–people move into higher-income areas. Will is also going to have a majority black district. When whites are in a position where they are less than fifty percent, they get very uncomfortable, and that’s part of why they move to Cabot and so on. How do we keep that mix here in Little Rock? Otherwise, we will have separate and unequal schools. We need larger schools and larger districts. The smaller the school, the greater the per capita spending. One other thing: Equity. The reason the incentive schools were eliminated? After-hours, parental involvement, supplemental pay for teachers–they were eliminated because I had supported it. We build alternative schools for the failures. And Baker, you need to stay in the case, you need the state money, in order to keep stability. If you lose that community, if you lose your schools, you’ll see people leave their nice houses and move up to northwest Arkansas. Now, Baker and other members of the board are not in a position of power, and they aren’t used to that. Community schools are a comprehensive concept–not for one community or another, but a common resource so that all people can share. We have one final opportunity for that to happen.

Linda Chesterfield: When we came on this board, we knew we had only six years, because of term limits. I don’t doubt the sincerity of Will Bond, and he does not doubt mine. Will and I are both leaving. Now there’s got to be somebody else who comes in, who may not have our passions. I was determined not to let these school districts be unable to educate their students. Now, thanks to term limits, we are going to have a whole new group of people to deal with this issue.

Question from the floor: What is the League’s interest? Nell answers, we’re trying to meet with as many people as possible to try to get a League idea together about this. We’re going to work with Ruth Shepard of Just Communities of Central Arkansas. The more you talk with us, the more we can do. Now, anything you can sum up with now?

Baker: I’m in love and charity with my neighbors, no matter what color they are. I do really care about LR more than I care about just the school district. I believe in desegregated education, that’s the best thing my children got. But now we’ve done a lousy job of that. If we don’t build elementary and middle schools in growing areas, we will be unable to keep desegregated upper level schools. I’d like to settle this case, with the $66 Miillion from the legislature, decreased by 1/7 each year, and then go back to educating the least among us.

Sam: John, I agree with you and disagree with you. I think now after Lake View, which was about race, that was the origin of it, the legislature is ready to cope with this.

John Walker: I don’t think that’s the reality of the situation. The benchmarks have been changed to hide that our children are doing worse.

Will Bond: sometimes, As innovative as we are, in different areas, in public education we have clung to older administrative models. In Jacksonville, we’d like a diverse, desegregated school. But the schools have resegregated. How do we attract students? In Jacksonville, we’re talking about closing some schools and building others, fewer. But we have to think about what we can do to improve the schools.

From the floor: If the parents were interested in the children, they’d be at school helping out. But the parents do not help out.

Linda Chesterfield: I just wanted to be here and hear what these gentlemen had to say. Public education is the most unique gift we can give to our children. I came out of segregated schools, where I was blessed to have great teachers–with dilapidated buildings and outdated textbooks. Great teachers are essential. Great support staff are essential. And valuing each and every child in those schools, looking into their faces and seeing the face of God, that is essential. We can think outside of the box and come up with some great ideas, we can agree and we can disagree. This board I see heading toward two entities but that’s just the way boards are.

It’s at my church and is sponsored by the League of Women Voters. I plan to attend and, if possible, live blog the event. Speaking will be:

Little Rock lawyer and state Board of Education member Sam Ledbetter; state Rep. Will Bond of Jacksonville, who’s been leadiing the charge to end the Pulaski desegregation case and separate Jacksonville from the Pulaski County School District, and Little Rock School Board member Baker Kurrus.

via Arkansas Blog (P.S. to Max: It’s the Unitarian Universalist Church)

Right here–schedule coming soon.

Anyone who can read this op-ed by Howard Wolfson and not believe all but an insignificant minority of Clintonites are not getting on the Obama bus (and not shuffling to the back, either) is either deluded or a desperate Republican partisan. (For the moment, let’s overlook the large overlap between those two sad groups of losers.)

After the deeply felt, personal way in which Wolfson wrote this article–it is heartbreaking to have to write a sentence like “I had no answers when my 3-year-old daughter asked why Hillary had lost or where all the Hillary signs had gone”–the next thing I noticed was a tacit explanation of how the Hillary Clinton campaign lost:

For many of us who were part of the Clinton campaign, Sen. Barack Obama’s appeal was something we understood only in the abstract — data in polls, faces at a televised rally.

Most of us never heard him speak in person. At work 14 hours a day in the war room, we focused on his perceived faults and deficiencies. Our time was spent sharpening and advancing arguments. Skepticism was critical to our efforts. Insulated from Obamamania, I met few Obama supporters and distanced myself from the ones I knew. I lived this way for 18 months.

There’s a lesson there for all of us–get to know the people with whom you disagree. Especially get to know the people with whom you disagree and with whom you must contend, and most especially get to know those with whom you disagree and with whom you must contend and with whom you must someday come to terms, whether you win or lose. It’s not just the human and humane thing to do, it’s the smart thing, too.

via Talking Points Memo