For the past quarter century, Arkansas’ education policies – indeed, all state spending – have been framed by the Lake View school funding lawsuit. That may have changed, and we just don’t know it yet.

Let’s start with the background. The Lake View School District No. 25 v. Huckabee case began in 1992, when the small, poor Lake View school district sued the state. It argued that the state was violating the Arkansas Constitution’s requirement to “ever maintain a general, suitable and efficient” education system. The courts agreed that Arkansas had failed to provide “adequate” and “equitable” schools.

During the next 15 years, the case fundamentally changed Arkansas until it finally ended in 2007. Education became accepted as a state responsibility rather than a local one. The state poured money into schools while other states were cutting funding. Schools always were funded first, which meant other priorities shared what was left. Policymakers were reluctant to get too creative with a funding formula they knew was safely constitutional. No one wanted another lawsuit.

Here’s what’s changed since Lake View

But Lake View may not be so influential in the future, for two reasons. Continue reading →

Conway kindergarten teacher Randi House, the 2018 Teacher of the Year, right, is embraced by Courtney Cochran, a Spanish teacher from Van Buren who is the current Teacher of the Year. In the background is Kathy Powers, an English/language arts teacher at Conway and the 2011 recipient of the award.

The selection of the Arkansas Teacher of the Year is supposed to be a surprise, but Randi House, a kindergarten teacher at Conway’s Theodore Jones Elementary School, was already wiping away tears before her name was called.

House earlier had been named one of four semifinalists, so she knew she was in the running for the award. On Sept. 29, she was standing against the wall during a “school assembly” as the children sat on the floor listening to a reading. That’s when she saw Education Commissioner Johnny Key, other officials, her family, and news reporters file into the room.

House received a $14,000 check from the Walton Family Foundation. In February, she’ll train with other Teachers of the Year in California. And then July 1, she’ll leave the classroom for a year and travel the state promoting the profession, visiting with other teachers and learning new techniques. She’ll also be a nonvoting member of the Arkansas State Board of Education.

A shortage of teachers and future teachers

Hopefully she’ll be able to help reverse a trend that has policymakers concerned – a teacher shortage accompanied by a falling number of students studying to be teachers in Arkansas. Over a five-year period, enrollees in first-time teacher licensure programs dropped by more than half. In 2011-12, 7,758 candidates were enrolled in such programs. In 2015-16, it was 3,737.

Continue reading →