ROGERS -- Teacher pay is a concern for candidates for Position 2 on Benton County School of the Arts School Board.
Parents of students at the charter school will pick new board members in an election Tuesday.
At A Glance
Board Election
Parents of students at Benton County School of the Arts can vote for board candidates from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Parents with a child at the elementary or middle school will vote at the 12th Street campus. Parents with a high school student will vote at the Poplar Street campus.
Source: Staff Report
Profile
Tony Beardsley
Position 2
Age: 54
Residency: Fayetteville
Employment: Information technology manager at Clorox
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business administration from Texas State University, San Marcos.
Military experience: None
Political experience: Benton County School of the Arts Board member six years
Family: Michelle Welch, wife; one daughter is a graduate of Benton County School of the Arts
Profile
Anthony Porchia
Position 2
Age: 36
Residency: Pea Ridge
Employment: Security integration tech at Walmart
Education: Attended college
Military experience: None
Political experience: None
Family: April Porchia, wife, one child at the middle and and one at the elementary school
Tony Beardsley, 54, the incumbent, and challenger Anthony Porchia, 36, agree they want to pay teachers more.
"We have to come up with an alternate revenue stream if we want teacher raises," Beardsley said.
Because teacher pay has built-in step increases, officials have to be able to maintain those increases long-term, he said.
Charter schools get a set per-student amount of money each year from the state, just like other public schools. Unlike other public schools, charter schools have no attendance boundaries and cannot raise a millage.
A school foundation approved by the board will allow them to accept grants and build the school's programming, Beardsley said.
More money, salaries, new art technology and more improvement at the school's performing arts center would be his priorities, Beardsley said.
Teacher raises are important because they let teachers know they are appreciated, Porchia said.
The board's place isn't to raise the money, but to make sure it's used wisely, he said.
Porchia said he chose the school for his children six years ago because there were after-school options, but more emphasis on arts at the school would be a good thing. If his children can pick up a guitar or a violin and play, that's an extracurricular activity equal to sports offered at other schools, Porchia said.
"If we can bring back more of the arts, that would be great," he said.
He's a parent representative to the School Board Work Committee that meets to discuss vision for the school, and that service gave him the idea to run for the board.
He likes the Arkansas Arts Academy name the school will take July 1. Porchia has been a Watchdog Dad volunteer at the school. The smaller size of the school is nice, he said.
"It's going to give your child the proper attention that they need," he said.
An arts education is the best education, Beardsley said.
His daughter has graduated, but he wants to stay involved in the school because of the difference it made to her, he said.
Other schools may have more students, but Benton County School of the Arts can have a higher quality of performance in orchestra, drama or choir, because of its arts focus, he said.
"I think we can be better than the larger school district," he said.
NW News on 04/26/2014