UA school reformers criticize state takeovers of public school districts

[TexasTowelie]

Members of the University of Arkansas education reform department have written an op-ed for the Houston Chronicle that says states have a lousy record when they take over local school districts. A state takeover of the huge Houston Independent School District is being discussed in Texas.

Arkansas is a case in point in the article by Jay Greene, distinguished professor of education reform at the UA, and Josh McGee, a research professor at UA.

We’ve seen the problems of state takeovers here in Arkansas, where the state has been running the Little Rock School District since 2015. As is currently the case in Houston, Little Rock had a number of schools with stubbornly low academic performance and a poorly functioning school board. State officials were confident that they could do better, but five years into state control very little has changed. The district continues to lag state averages on English Language Arts and Math achievement tests and high school graduation rates by roughly the same amount as it did before the takeover.

Turning around failing schools was the justification for the state takeover, but, of the eight schools currently receiving a failing grade, only one has met the state’s goals for academic growth. Without any meaningful improvement, state officials are left without a clear exit strategy as community anger is boiling over. At a recent town hall meeting, members of the state board of education were shouted down by a crowd of more than 200 people, including leading community representatives, with slogans like “taxation without representation,” “no confidence,” and “free the LRSD.”

Arkansas is not alone, they note. Texas has already experienced problems in a Beaumont takeover.

Read more: https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2019/09/05/ua-school-reformers-criticize-state-takeovers-of-public-school-districts