Category Archives: Education

For one teacher, following her calling has its rewards

Tasha Wilson

Tasha Wilson reacts to receiving a Milken Educator Award.

By Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Kingsland Elementary second grade teacher Tasha Wilson received an early Christmas present Nov. 30 – $25,000 for doing her job well.

The award came from the Milken Family Foundation, which this year recognized 40 mid-career educators nationwide. Seventy-four Arkansans have received the award since its creation in 1987. Wilson was the only one this year.

Dr. Jane Foley, Milken Educator Awards senior vice president, made the surprise announcement after traveling from California to Kingsland, a south Arkansas town that’s also the birthplace of Johnny Cash. Students and teachers had been told they were assembling to celebrate Kingsland Elementary being one of three Arkansas schools named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. Then Foley made the big reveal. Continue reading →

Fort Smith college students Fix the Debt

By Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

At the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Friday, more than 220 college students, including sophomore Garrett Spain from Greenwood, tried to do what Congress is unwilling to do – get the government’s debt under control.

The students gathered at two dozen tables, each with a laptop, and worked together using the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s (CRFB) Debt Fixer tool. That’s an online resource that lets users see how the federal budget would be affected by selecting various spending cuts and tax increases.

The goal of Friday’s exercise was not to pay down the $21.6 trillion national debt. Instead, it was to get the red ink under control. The $15.8 trillion public debt (what the government owes everyone but itself) is 77 percent of the gross domestic product and growing rapidly. By 2028, it is projected to be 97 percent, meaning it will be the same size as the economy. The goal for the students was to stabilize it at 70 percent by 2028, and 40 percent by 2050. Continue reading →

Head Hog’s must-do list: revenues, wins

By Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

The University of Arkansas athletic director has two must-accomplish responsibilities: first, keep the money flowing, and second, keep the fans happy by winning football games. Hunter Yurachek knows as well as anyone he’ll have to succeed at both.

Yurachek, who was hired last December, spoke Monday before a capacity crowd at the Little Rock Touchdown Club. His predecessor, Jeff Long, spoke to that same group nine times before being fired because he succeeded only at the first responsibility. Continue reading →

Terms-even-more-limited

By Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Until 2014, Arkansas had one of the strictest legislative term limits laws in the country. After November, it could be even stricter, and the result would be a new state Legislature four-and-a-half years from now.

Those things would happen if voters approve a ballot proposal that would restore limits to levels passed in 1992 – along with a major new one.

That year, voters enacted limits of three two-year terms in the Arkansas House and two four-year terms in the Senate. They also capped the state’s constitutional officers (governor, lieutenant governor, etc.) to two four-year terms and also limited congressional terms, but those were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Continue reading →

In an imperfect world, should teachers be armed?

David Hopkins

David Hopkins is superintendent at Clarksville.

By Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Let’s start with the question that gets people interested: Should teachers be armed?

But before continuing, let’s go over some important but less controversial background information. On July 3, the 18-member Arkansas School Safety Commission appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson presented its preliminary report to him. It includes 19 recommendations, including school safety and security teams, strategies for reporting suspicious behaviors, enhanced access to student mental health services, and anti-bullying programs.

Some of the 19 could lead to legislation or regulations, while some simply recommend best practices for schools to implement.

Here’s one of the big challenges. In a country with 55 million schoolchildren, school shootings statistically don’t happen that often. But when they do, they are national tragedies that shatter parental and community trust. So what resources should be devoted to that kind of threat? Because inevitably in this imperfect world, they’ll come at the expense of other priorities, including academics.

Unless … you use the same resources for both purposes. And that’s where we get into the question of arming staff members. Continue reading →