Little Rock, Arkansas, Schools in Trouble

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, public schools are expected to make measurable progress in reading and math every year. Schools that fail to make the required scores face harsh consequences. Cloverdale Middle School and Forest Hills Middle School in Little Rock, Arkansas, know first hand what these consequences are. Both schools have failed to meet the required student improvement for the past seven years.

The Consequences

Failure to meet mandated student improvement over several years requires school districts to take drastic measures to improve the schools. In Arkansas, this means that all teaching staff must reapply for their jobs. Only 49 percent of the teachers will retain employment at the school, the remaining 51 percent may be transferred to other schools in the district.

Issues Facing Little Rock Schools

There are several issues that are facing the Little Rock School Systems. The school system includes Little Rock, North Little Rock and Pulaski County Schools. Court mandated desegregation, suing over charter schools, and union problems are just a few of the issues.

Court mandated desegregation makes it difficult for students to transfer from their base schools to other schools. The state of Arkansas has fairly lenient transfer requirements. Little Rock's transfer requirements are much tougher. In Little Rock, a student can only transfer out of a public school where their ethnic group is a majority into a public school where the same ethnic group would be in the minority.

The Little Rock School District voted to sue the state to prevent the opening of any more charter schools in Pulaski County. The school district feels that the charter schools are interfering with the court mandated desegregation. Little Rock schools feel that open enrollment charter schools are taking the top students away from the public school system. Charlie Daniels, the Arkansas State Attorney General has stated that he is against the lawsuit.

Finally, there are the ongoing lawsuits over Pulaski County Schools' decision to no longer recognize the teachers unions as collective bargaining agents. Currently, the teachers do not have a ratified contract.

Cloverdale Middle School

Failing to meet the required student improvement mandates for the last seven years is causing Cloverdale Middle School to reinvent itself. All staff except for the principal must reapply for their jobs as their jobs are considered vacant. A maximum of 49 percent of the current staff can keep their jobs at Cloverdale Middle School. The school will reopen in fall of 2010 as Cloverdale Aerospace Technology Charter Middle School. If Little Rock Schools win the right to prevent more charter schools from opening, this could get interesting.

Forest Hills Middle School

Facing the same situation as Cloverdale Middle School, teachers at Forest Hills Middle School must reapply for their jobs. The school has failed to make adequate student improvement for seven years straight. Under Arkansas guidelines, all staff must reapply for their current positions. A maximum of 49 percent will be able to remain at Forest Hills. 51 percent of the staff will either be reassigned to other schools or be asked to find employment elsewhere.

The big question has yet to be answered. Who is looking after the best interest of the students? Litigation over unions, desegregation, and charter schools is not allocating money and resources toward teaching the children of Little Rock. Public schools in Little Rock are in trouble. Cloverdale Middle School and Forest
Hills Middle School may be just the tip of the iceberg.