Middle-of-the-pack still not good enough
Editorials
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Saturday, January 13, 2007
WE WERE more than a little conflicted when we saw the headline in the paper last week even before our second cuppa joe:
Education study ranks state schools 29th in U.S.
Twenty-ninth? As in 29th from the top? As in not among the lowest of the low? As in respectable? As in the range of a Gentleman’s C? At first we felt a little pride coming on. Then, a few minutes later, a little anger at ourselves. First the Pride Thing: The news could’ve been a lot worse, and has been in the past. The headline could’ve told us we were 49th. Or even lower. Back when Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992, Saturday Night Live put on some debate skits between Our Boy Bill, Bush 41 and Ross Payroll. The guy playing Governor Clinton of Good Ol’ Arkansas bragged about being 49th in some category or another, and warned Mississippi to look out, y’all, ’cause we’re gonna catch up with ya soon!
49th. 48th. 47th. 51st (when you include D.C.) . . . Isn’t that what Arkansas has been used to all these years?
Then the folks at Education Week, bless ’em all to pieces, issued its rankings of student performance in the 50 states last week, and there we stood—tall. At 29th.
Yes, now that you mention it, that was Pride. Arkansas gained ground so fast on the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress that only Texas improved faster.
The director of editorial projects for Education Week, Christopher Swanson, described Arkansas (and Texas and Delaware and Florida) as “interesting outlyer” states because our kids are coming on so strong.
“These are states that show strong growth trajectories,” Mr. Swanson said. “These are average and slightly above average performing states in regions of the country that are generally low-performing. They are states worth taking a second look at.”
How ’bout them education experts! They’ve noticed us—and they’ve noticed all we’ve been doing to improve our schools. Besides the students and teachers and principals and school superintendents who’ve made all this progress, let’s thank some of the folks who got us to this point:
Thank you, Ken James, the state’s commissioner of education. He’s presided over this big jump for Arkansas in the stats, and while it hasn’t made him popular with the types who’d prefer to keep everything in Arkansas education as it always was, like 49th in the ratings, Dr. James keeps pushing the rest of us to do more.
Thank you, Mike Huckabee! If the new governor does as much for this state as you have—in education and a lot of other endeavors, like highways and health, there’ll be no stopping Arkansas.
Thank you, legislators like Jim Argue who stood fast for education reform!
For a state like Arkansas, with our educational history and low per-capita income over the past decades, perhaps the most significant part of this news story wasn’t that we’d zoomed up to 29th in the country but the way we got there: by making impressive gains. It’s the pace of our progress that impresses most. We’re coming on strong, and if we can continue that pace, we’ll rank a lot higher than 29th in the future. In the not too distant future. It’s a nice feeling.
But after spending a few minutes gloating, we felt a different sensation. We were getting a little angry—at ourselves. Because, ya know, it’s just 29th. It’s not the Top 10. To put it another way, would you be satisfied if the Hawgs were 29th?
Nobody shouts, “We’re 29th! We’re 29th!”
Last time we counted, there were only 50 states, so 29th isn’t even in the dead middle.
Don’t get us wrong. We know good news when we see it. The state is heading in the right direction.
But Arkansas can do better—a lot better
If anybody is still in doubt about why this state needs to keep improving public education, one statistic may say more than a thousand editorials: One in five jobs in Arkansas manufacturing has been lost since mid-1995.
As technology becomes more sophisticated, manufacturing plants require more sophisticated workers—those with a superior education. If this state’s economy is going to continue to develop, and if we’re going to provide better jobs with better pay for the generations of Arkansans to come, we need to start by providing a better education. And start early—in K through 12. And even before with early childhood education.
So, proud as we are of the progress, let’s not settle for 29th. Let’s keep on keeping on. Let’s keep pushing the Ledge to give our kids a decent, and constitutional, education. Our lawmakers still need to hold educators accountable, and demand more for those budget increases. Governor Beebe should still make education Priorities Nos. 1 through forever. And principals should continue to come up with new ways to improve not only student test scores, but get better teachers, and keep them.
We wouldn’t settle for 29th on the football field, or basketball court, so let’s not settle for it when the stakes are a lot higher.
