Education officials discussed the Arkansas LEARNS Act at a meeting of the Rotary Club of Little Rock Tuesday. Education Secretary Jacob Oliva, a proponent of the wide-sweeping education law, was one of the panelists. In response to a question about accountability in school systems, Oliva said the statewide grading system for schools needs to be improved.
“We’ve been working with school districts and stakeholders for about a year, in fact we’re going to start presenting some stuff to the state Board [of Education] in the next couple weeks to improve that because if the schools don’t have confidence in it, then how do they expect you to have confidence in it?”
Jeremy Owoh, superintendent of Jacksonville-North Pulaski School District, said he thinks parents should be able to choose the right school for their child. But, he said all schools receiving public dollars should be held to the same standards.
“The same type of opportunity for innovation needs to be allowed. Public schools should not have to go and petition for waivers if there’s other educational systems who are receiving public dollars.” Owoh said. “They have this spectrum of waivers and they are able to be innovative.”
Owoh said while other school models such as charters still have to justify why they receive these waivers, it seems they have easier access to extra funding compared to public schools.
He also said public schools should have the flexibility to use Alternative Method of Instruction, or AMI, days when bad weather keeps schools closed. Under Arkansas LEARNS, AMI days no longer count toward public school’s yearly quota of teaching hours needed to receive state funds for teacher salary increases.
Amy Johnson directs the Arkansas Virtual Academy, an online public charter school. She spoke about the benefits of raising teacher pay.
“When we are paying a respectable salary, it’s easier for us to create processes and expectations for our teachers that are higher level because we’re able to offer a salary that is competitive, it’s comparable to what we’re asking teachers to do, the time that’s involved.”
Owoh said the raises have helped his schools retain teachers and keep hiring competitive.
“Last year we started the school year with double-digit vacancies, this year there were single digits. Going into next year, one of my largest elementary schools, about 800 students, only has one vacancy.”
Owoh also said smaller school districts in the state may struggle to keep up with the raises because their tax base is smaller.
The panel was moderated by Little Rock Public Radio’s Josie Lenora.
