The Facts About School Reform in Arkansas

Funding Increases
Over the past 40 years, Arkansas' education spending has grown from nearly $154 million (1965) to over $2.9 billion (2005) in nominal dollars. Since 1995, total spending is up over 99%.

However, Arkansas' student enrollment trends have stayed relatively flat since 1975 (at approximately 450,000 students per year).

During this same period, the number of teachers in public education has increased considerably, from 17,404 teachers in 1965 to 31,820 teachers in 2004/2005. This 83% increase in public education teachers has lowered the teacher/student ratios from one teacher to 22.4 students in 1965 to one teacher to 14.28 students in 2004/2005.

In addition, non-teaching personnel (i.e., support staff, teacher aides, counselors, librarians, administration staff, etc.) has increased at a higher percentage (80%) than the increase in public education teachers during this same time period.

Few Results
Even with these sharp expenditure increases for school personnel, student academic performance has shown few, if any, positive gains during this same time period. In fact, over the past 15 years, national test scores for Arkansas students have remained relatively flat.

In 2002, nearly 54% of students at Arkansas public colleges and universities were assigned to one or more remedial courses. Of the students requiring remediation, statistics show that 77% will not complete college.

The public must demand a true system of hard-edged accountability with quantifiable incentives and consequences that cannot be eroded by politics and administration changes. As taxpayers and parents, we cannot afford to continue tossing dollars into a system that fails to educate our children adequately. As future competitors in the global market, our children deserve the best education possible. To provide our children with the tools for success, we must employ a system based on accountability, choice and transparency.

Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Exam Results, Arkansas Department of Education, Fordham Foundation, Arkansas Fast Facts, Historical Statistics of the US, Statistical Abstracts of the United States, National Center for Education Statistics.

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