Education Department counsel gets job
by Cynthia Howell
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Friday, June 6, 2008
Scott Smith, legal counsel to the Arkansas Department of Education since 2000, is leaving that job to become the director of the new Arkansas Public School Resource Center.
The center is designed to assist charter schools and traditional public school districts in rural communities.
Lu Hardin, president of the University of Central Arkansas, which is establishing the center with a Walton Family Foundation grant of $426,141, announced Smith’s appointment Wednesday.
Smith’s appointment will take effect July 1. He will earn $120,000 in the position.
“With his vast experience, impressive credentials, and intimate familiarity with the educational system in Arkansas, Scott is the perfect fit for this position,” Hardin said in a prepared statement.
Smith, who did not return a phone message left at his office for comment on the new position, said in the news release that he was honored by the opportunity to join forces with Hardin and the university as well as the Walton foundation.
“I recognize their long-term commitment to improving public education, and the synergies created by uniting them in this effort should result in great progress for Arkansas,” he said.
At the state Education Department, Smith has been involved in developing and then carrying out education legislation, including accountability measures such as Act 35 and Act 1467, the state’s Omnibus Education Act.
He has been a chief adviser in the state Board of Education’s efforts to comply with Act 60 of the 2003 special legislative session on education that requires the merger of districts with fewer than 350 students, and in the establishment of charter schools, including the 17 openenrollment charter schools and nine conversion charter schools to be in operation in the 2008-09 school year.
Charter schools are public schools that are exempted from some state education laws and rules in return for stricter accountability for improvements in student achievement. Conversion charter schools are operated by traditional school districts while open-enrollment charter schools are run by non- profit corporations other than school districts.
Smith previously served in the state Department of Finance and Administration, and before that he was deputy prosecuting attorney in the 19th Judicial District of Arkansas.
Arkansas Education Commissioner Ken James on Wednesday said Smith had been a strong asset to the Education Department and he was sorry to see him leave but wished him well in the new position.
“It’s flattering to the agency that we have folks that other folks want to employ,” James said.
James said the establishment and monitoring of charter schools is a significant role of the state education board. The formation of the resource center has the potential to assist the board with that.
“The better we can coordinate all of those efforts... to make sure we have quality applications coming in and that the schools do what they say they are going to do so we don’t have failures in that arena... the better off everybody is going to be,” James said.
The center will design and provide support for both open-enrollment public charter schools and for rural public school districts.
Services to the different types of schools is expected to include training for school faculty members and school leaders. The center also will assist the schools with their student assessment systems and provide guidance on how to use data from those assessments to improve instruction.
Still other areas of assistance will include helping the schools comply with federal program requirements including the school lunch program and the Title I program that aids schools with low- income students. The center also is expected to provide guidance on matters related to school facilities, distance learning, student information systems and financial affairs.
Although the University of Central Arkansas is based in Conway, the Public School Resource Center is being planned for Little Rock.
