- As a result of desegregation mandates, Arkansas taxpayers have poured more than 550 million dollars, above what they receive as a result of the state school funding formula and local millage, into the Little Rock School District (LRSD) over the past two decades.
- Over the past five years alone, taxpayers have contributed more than $167 million additional dollars to the school district. And that’s a substantial increase from the previous five years.
- Total additional payments increased by about 20 percent, comparing the 1999-2004 school years with the 2004-2009 school years.
- That kind of investment demands proper returns – for our children, for our community, for our future.
- The Little Rock School District has failed to deliver in every respect, especially for our children.
- Over the same five-year period, 2004-2009, school performance and student performance have deteriorated substantially.
- LRSD receives seven mills above the 25 mills required by the state school finance formula. As a result, the district employs more positions than are identified in the state funding model except for core teachers in the elementary schools.
- In the 2004 school year, 22 schools (of 52) were not achieving adequate yearly progress under state benchmarks for education. That number increased to 34 schools (of 42) in the 2008 school year.
- Achievement gaps are increasing across the board. Student performance in math and literacy at all grade levels is below par – and the gaps are growing larger every year. More troubling, the achievement gaps are getting more severe when measuring the progress of African-American students and Caucasian students, proving that the LRSD is continuing to under-serve African-American students.
- In literacy and mathematics, the achievement gap, of those scoring proficient and advanced, between African-Americans and Caucasians measures approximately 38 percentile points across all grades.
- When considering advanced levels, the percentage of Caucasian students scoring higher achievement in mathematics and literacy has actually doubled over the last five years (50% and 45% respectively). On the other hand, for African-American students, that scoring has remained stagnant, not topping 20% in either category.
There’s only one conclusion to draw: we’re investing more and getting less. Our 550-million-dollar additional investment over the past two decades has been poured into a money pit at the Little Rock School District. We should expect – and demand – more from our schools. Our children deserve it, our community deserves it and our future demands it.
