Asa Hutchinson
LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas’ new governor said Tuesday that good schools in remote locations should have a chance to avoid state-mandated consolidation, even if their enrollment drops below allowable limits.
To address shortcomings highlighted in a school funding lawsuit, Arkansas since 2004 has required that school districts with fewer than 350 pupils be merged with a neighbor. More than 60 districts have closed since the law took effect.
Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson said at a forum sponsored by the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors that there should be a way to accommodate tiny schools that provide a good education and are on a sound financial footing.
“If … it’s being consolidated simply because they haven’t reached that magical number, and that’s going to result in a student riding a bus for four hours, that should be a factor that could be considered on appeal,” Hutchinson said. “It’s not doing away with it, but it’s allowing a deeper look at the equities of each individual circumstance.”
The Lake View School District sued Arkansas more than two decades ago, claiming the state wasn’t spending enough money on education and that the money spent wasn’t distributed fairly. The state Supreme Court agreed.
Hutchinson said consolidation was an appropriate response to the lawsuit but said some districts should be entitled to appeals.
“The ones that are academically performing and financially sound, those are ones you have to think about,” he said.
House Speaker Jonathan Gillam, R-Beebe, told the editors’ group he’d be open to a discussion on how practical waiver requests might be.
Hutchinson also said he would have his new education commissioner, who has yet to be named, convene a panel of educators and parents to review Common Core education standards.
Legislators last year refused to delay the guidelines, which are intended to ensure pupils nationwide receive an education that leaves them ready for college or a career. Some states have dropped the guidelines, saying they amount to federal interference with local schools.
During a campaign appearance in Hot Springs in September, Hutchinson said high standards are appropriate in a mobile society and that “you don’t want to do anything to lower the standards.”
Hutchinson takes office Jan. 13.
(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, broadcast or distributed.)
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