Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Public says Huckabee plan no good

Residents of Nevada County voiced their opposition of Gov. Mike Huckabee's education proposal at Nevada High School Thursday night.

Some 350 people from across the county, including members of all three school boards, packed into the Nevada gym to speak their piece.

On hand to listen and respond were State Sen. Percy Malone, State Rep. Chris Thomason, Dr. Woody Cummings with the Arkansas Department of Education and Scott Smith, attorney for the ADE.

Nevada Superintendent Rick McAfee said the meeting was for the representatives to get input as this is a serious issue throughout Arkansas.

The situation stems, he said, from the Lake View lawsuit, and the problem must be addressed and corrected.

When asked why this plan wasn't put to the people of Arkansas before the General Election in November, Malone said the Arkansas Supreme Court didn't issue its ruling until Nov. 1, and no plan had been prepared beforehand.

The question was also posed as to whether real property taxes would be raised.

Cummings said with the potential change will come cost.

Work on the plan began Nov. 1, 2002, he said, and the number, 1,500, is an optimal figure where schools would be more efficient.

But, he pointed out, there is no plan in place and no price tag as yet.

The 1,500, he said, has caused many misconceptions because it's just a "best guess". If districts met the standards and had a student population of 1,250, the ADE would be "open to look at them."

The ADE, he said, will begin public discussions in February at the state board meeting.

Malone said the Arkansas Constitution says the state will provide a free adequate and equitable education for the children of Arkansas.

The ASC, he continued, has ruled Arkansas isn't doing this and the situation must be corrected.

In 1995, Malone said, the legislature told the ADE to do an adequacy study on education, but this was never done. It will now under the court order.

He told the audience there are no bills pending in the House or Senate concerning education at this time, and a committee has been formed to define adequate and equitable. Hopefully, he said, a finding will be ready by July.

"I believe we'll find a way to have schools, though there may not be superintendents at every one," Malone said. "I'm not saying how it will be, but we're being forced to look at a more efficient system."

The court, he said, has stated basing the funding on average daily attendance won't work.

When talking about standards, Thomason said, the point is the focus has been too much on the horse.

The court decision is 68 pages long, he said, and is confusing to attorneys as well, but it does provide a "decent map" on what the state needs in order to come into constitutional compliance, and it says nothing about numbers.

According to Thomason, the 1,500 figure is based on a study done in 1975 to show the optimum number of students in the most efficient district.

However, it doesn't define adequate, and a vehicle needs to be developed for the children's education and their future prosperity, he said.

"We need to do something about teachers salaries, keep them motivated and staying in place for the children," he said. "Huckabee got everyone talking about education and that's great. We need healthy debate, more parental and community involvement and we need to use the map to get us on the right road for our children."

Ottis "Chuck" Otwell said the problem isn't with "our people" but with them telling us what we're doing isn't good enough.

"We need discipline in school where teachers can have some authority," he said. "You need to pass legislation to relieve the boards, districts and teachers of some of the liability. They need immunity from some lawsuits.

Malone said one of the biggest issues with the court is quality of education, and how the state constitution requires Arkansas to provide a free adequate and equitable education for all children.

"We don't want the United States Supreme Court telling Arkansas how to interpret its own constitution," Malone said. "The ruling says we're not doing the job."

When questioned about other plans the public may not know about, Cummings said the draft of another plan is out now, but Huckabee's plan started people talking.

Cummings said enrollments are declining across the state, teachers are retiring in dramatic numbers and there is a teacher shortage statewide.

"It's a continuing problem," he said, "and we're looking to try and initiate dialog at this point. Right now, there are 115 districts with 77 percent of the students and 195 districts with 23 percent of the children."

Myrna Waters, a justice of the peace on the Nevada County Quorum Court said the state needs to be building schools up and putting money back in them.

She and others said when small communities lose their school, the young people leave and the communities die out. "We can't afford to lose more people in Nevada County."

Thomason said the end result in this issue may mean some places lose football and some traditions will be killed, but smaller isn't always bad, like bigger isn't always better.

"Arkansas is a small rural state," he said, "and the rural communities are one of the greatest things about the state. There are principles and values taught in smaller communities and the legislature needs to talk about the impact this will have on these areas."

Malone said the only high schools closed will be those not meeting the standards under state law.

Malone said the focus needs to be on education, not consolidation.