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“The (Education) department’s performance measures are inadequate and must be strengthened.” Policy Foundation, “Arkansas Efficiency Project, 2016   (June 2018) It pays to be a Little Rock School District employee more than a top state official.   The Little Rock School District, the subject of a 2015 state takeover paid 102 officials more than $89,301, […]

  “The (Education) department’s performance measures are inadequate and must be strengthened.” Policy Foundation, “Arkansas Efficiency Project, 2016   (May 2018) The Dollarway School District, taken over by the state in 2015, spent $8,309,639 on employee salaries in 2016, according to public records compiled by OpenTheBooks.com, a non-profit that advances government transparency as a policy […]

“Compliant taxpayers are suffering from a lack of service, as a result of lagged collection and payment activities” by Arkansans not paying their taxes. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC, Efficiency Project report, 2016   (May 2018) The state Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) continues to reduce tax debts owed Arkansas, recovering $132.3 million in outstanding receivables in calendar […]

“Mission Statements. Agency officials expressed support for efficiency as a concept, though few mission statements include the term. Each agency should include the word efficiency in their mission statement and post it online in an easily accessible format.” Policy Foundation, Efficiency Project, 2016   (May 2018) Eleven Arkansas state agencies have amended their mission or core […]

  “Agency Strategic Plans. Only five state agencies post a strategic plan … Each agency should have a strategic plan and post it online so it is accessible to citizens.”  Policy Foundation Efficiency Project, October 2016   (May 2018) Sixteen state agencies reviewed by the Efficiency Project in 2016 have adopted Recommendation No. 3, which called on agencies […]

“Eighteen Arkansas school districts earned A’s or A-minuses, and 14 other systems received failing marks in the latest in a series of Arkansas Policy Foundation studies.”  Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Sept. 28, 2008   (April 2018) A new Arkansas Department of Education School Index report assigns twice as many ‘A’ grades to traditional high schools as failing (‘F’) […]

(April 2018) Only eight Arkansas counties post annual budgets online for citizens while others publish an annual appropriation notice in the paper of record, a legal requirement. Every county should post its budget in an easily-accessible format. This lack of transparency can be illustrated by comparing Arkansas counties with those with similar names in other […]

“I’ve been told this isn’t going to help anybody unless your income is $100,000 a year.” State Rep. Kim Hendren, R-Gravette “Question: Could you tell, since you indicated that perhaps Rep. Hendren’s fig 529s & MIDDLE-CLASS ARKANSAS HOUSEHOLDS “I’ve been told this isn’t going to help anybody unless your income is $100,000 a year.” State […]

“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,11998   (March 2018) The Policy Foundation was established in 1995 as a nonpartisan, 501(c)(c) non-profit think tank.  For nearly a quarter-century the Foundation has advanced market-based ideas to […]

(March 2018) A provision of the recently-enacted Republican federal tax cut, meant to increase competition in the delivery of education services was approved by the state legislature in mid-March and became law on March 20.   State legislators amended the Arkansas Tax-Deferred Tuition Savings Program Act1 to allow Section 529 Plans to be used to pay […]