by Matthew Hoffman
The Sentinel Record, Hot Springs, Arkansas
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Arkansans for Education Reform Foundation Executive Director Luke Gordy said Wednesday people need to prevent "watering down" the 2003 and 2004 education reforms. He also said it is too soon to tell how his organization will react to education measures in the current legislative session.
Gordy addressed the weekly meeting of the Hot Springs National Park Rotary Club in the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa. He was introduced by Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts Director Dr. John Measel. Gordy is an ASMSA governing board member.
There needs to be more accountability, choice and transparency in the state's elementary and secondary educational system, he said.
Act 35 of 2003, commonly known as the Omnibus Education Act, "put some teeth" into accountability, he said.
The act gives clear goals to schools and teachers and provides a good way to measure performance, he said.
However, he said another kind of measurement, called value-added, should be available for all to see.
A value-added measure would show how much a student has improved from a certain point in time, not just what he or she should know, Gordy said.
He said AERF also advocates an exit exam that students must pass before being allowed to graduate. He cited the state's end-of-course exams in math and literacy, but said there's no requirement students pass them.
There's only a requirement that the schools provide tutoring and remediation, he said.
Schools need to be given a letter grade just like students, he said, adding that currently it is a numerical ranking that most don't understand.
A more concise school report card needs to be developed. It is too long for most to understand, he said.
AERF also advocates the expansion of charter schools to provide choice for students and parents.
He said choice, as provided by the magnet school system in Hot Springs, shows how it can work.
"(Hot Springs School District Superintendent) Roy Rowe has done more than any other superintendent in the state of Arkansas to turn things around in the classroom," Gordy told the crowd.
Education reform is being done incrementally and he's "sharing" his organization's thoughts with the legislature during the 85th General Assembly.
"I can't lobby, but I can share, and I've been sharing the heck out of things up at the Legislature lately," he told the crowd.
Gordy was named the executive director of AERF, which is funded by Arkansas business owners, including the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette publisher Walter E. Hussman Jr. He also owns The Sentinel-Record.
The foundation was formed when several business owners got together to change the state's education system, which they believe has further-reaching effects.
"It's an education issue, but it's more than just that. It's an economic development issue," he said.
He said students today are going to compete in a different economic climate than the one he and Rotary members had to when they entered the job market.
The organization led efforts to influence the 84th General Assembly, most of which was devoted to changing K-12 education to comply with a 2002 Arkansas Supreme Court ruling that declared the state's system inadequately and inequitably funded.
Business people spoke to experts who said the system, as it was, was "broke".
"We are spending more and more on education without much of a different result," Gordy said.
He presented information showing school funding, the state's poverty rate and student achievement.
He served on the Arkansas Board of Education, twice as chairman, even though his background wasn't in education.
"I think most of the great ideas are coming from those not necessarily with a background in education," he said.
Education reform continues during the current legislative session. Legislators are trying to find a way to ensure adequate and equitable school facilities.
"The elephant in the living room; it's still the facilities issue," he said after the meeting.
"It's still a long way from done."
