LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas education officials have released their version of a plan to return the Little Rock School District to local control while a teacher strike is looming, allegedly beginning Friday, November 1.
The plan includes drastic changes to the balance of power between teachers and state officials. The state, district and the Little Rock mayor's office would establish a Community School Partnership Alliance, or CSPA.
Officials say that CSPAs will be comprised of community members, school staff, and parents who would decide which schools get which types of support. CSPAs also would get to decide how schools measure their success, as well as gaining a measure of power over teachers.
Community School Partner Alliances would have the power to create new personnel policies that would affect teacher pay and rights. These policies could be different from the district's policies.
The plan also points out that as long as schools remain in "level five intensive support," the district will not recognize a union as holding the teacher's bargaining power.
The three-page Memorandum of Understanding that was released only breaks the surface of this new plan. It is important to note that it is in fact a draft and is not set in stone.
It promises a new locally elected nine-member board coming in November 2020. It does not, however, explain if it will control all 40 schools in LRSD.
Below is a copy of the draft, or you can click here to view.
The outline also stated, "It is also the State’s responsibility to provide all public school children with a substantially equal opportunity for an adequate education to meet the State’s duty set forth by the Arkansas Supreme Court."
Mayor Frank Scott Jr. released the following statement regarding the MOU:
"Today, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) released a working draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on returning local control to the Little Rock School District (LRSD). The City of Little Rock is only party to an agreement to create a Community Schools Model (CSM) for LRSD's most challenged schools. The working draft MOU released today does not include the City of Little Rock's plans for CSM because, as we've previously stated, we are interested in hearing from the community about needed wrap-around services at low-performing schools. As community forums are planned we will announce how the public can attend and participate.
"The City of Little Rock will continue its meetings with the ADE and LRSD to discuss the next steps for development of a CSM. Those next steps are: creation of a student needs assessment; plans for community engagement meetings to hear from parents and residents about student needs outside of the classroom (as mentioned above); and data analysis in neighborhoods where struggling schools exist. I look forward to our future discussions to make the necessary improvements so we can establish a world class education system in our city."
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