LITTLE
ROCK STUDENTS NEED SCHOOL CHOICE
"The
most callused aspect of the current education monopoly in Arkansas is that it
willingly and deliberately forces children--except those whose parents have
wealth--to attend bad schools.” Policy
Foundation report,1
September 1998
(January 2017) School choice and charter
schools continue to advance since the Little Rock School District was taken
over by the state two years ago for academic distress. The Succeed Scholarship
Program was created by the state legislature and it's probable another tax
credit or voucher program will be established in this year's session. Student demand is so great there are nine
open-enrollment charter school systems operating in Little Rock, according to
the state Department of Education.2
School choice and charters should continue
to advance in 2017. Critics have
condemned the state takeover and attacked education reforms but offer little in
the form of credible policy alternatives.
The Policy Foundation has maintained an interest
in education reform since its founding 22 years ago. The Foundation published
the first Arkansas study calling for charters in 1996.3 The Foundation also called attention to
Little Rock's serious academic and fiscal issues in a 1999 study.4 The critics who disputed there was a problem
in Little Rock continue their opposition to choice and charters. They ignore the parents, guardians and
students who support these ideas.
School choice and charters should expand
in Little Rock--for the students.
1 Arkansas' Public Schools: A Thirty Year $20
Billion Taxpayer Investment Yields An Unprecedented Crisis in Academic
Performance.” The study is dedicated to the late Karen L. Henry (1951-1998),
who was a Policy Foundation board member.
2 Covenant Keepers College Preparatory Charter
School; e-STEM Public Charter School; Exalt Academy of Southwest Little Rock;
LISA Academy; Little Rock Preparatory Academy; Premier High School; Quest
Academy; Rockbridge Montessori School; SIA Tech Little Rock.
3 Allyson Tucker and Donna Watson. Arkansas' Weak Charter School Law: Failing The Grade.
4 A Performance Analysis of the Little Rock School District: Ten years of rising revenues and declining student academic achievement. The study is posted at: www.arkansaspolicyfoundation.org