Foundations propose school partnership

With state, 2 aim to aid campuses called distressed

Kathy Smith (left), senior program officer of the Walton Family Foundation, and Sherece West-Scantlebury, president and chief executive officer of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, answer questions Friday for the state Board of Education about a proposed philanthropic partnership with the state.
Kathy Smith (left), senior program officer of the Walton Family Foundation, and Sherece West-Scantlebury, president and chief executive officer of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, answer questions Friday for the state Board of Education about a proposed philanthropic partnership with the state.

Two of Arkansas' most prestigious philanthropic foundations want to join the state Department of Education to develop a comprehensive plan for raising public school student achievement, particularly in schools and districts identified as academically distressed.

Sherece West-Scantlebury, president and chief executive officer of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, and Kathy Smith, senior program officer for the Walton Family Foundation's Arkansas Education Reform Initiative, proposed the plans for the partnership at the state Board of Education meeting Friday.

"We seek to achieve meaningful change in our public school systems," West-Scantlebury told the Education Board. "Imagine what we could accomplish if we were to work together on this."

West-Scantlebury said the two foundations can offer their lengthy experience on education-related initiatives. She also said there is precedent nationally for private-public partnerships to benefit public education in states such as Delaware, Connecticut and Kentucky.

"We propose using the resources of our foundations -- our time, talent and resources -- to develop a comprehensive approach to improve education in Arkansas, with a specific set of strategies on moving forward our academically distressed districts," West-Scantlebury said.

The Lee County and Strong-Huttig school districts and 26 individual school campuses are labeled by the state as academically distressed because more than half of their students scored at below-proficient levels on state exams over a three-year period.

The 26 campuses include Hall, McClellan and J.A. Fair high schools, two middle schools and an elementary campus in the Little Rock School District, as well as Jacksonville and Wilbur Mills high schools and an elementary school in the Pulaski County Special School District. Covenant Keepers Charter School, an independently operated charter school in Little Rock, is also on the list, as are some schools in Pine Bluff and Forrest City and in a handful of other districts.

Academically distressed schools have no more than five years to raise achievement levels and win release from the state's program. If problems aren't corrected at the end of five years, the Education Board must by law either annex, consolidate or reconstitute the school before July 1 of the next school year. The rules for academically distressed schools include provisions for students to transfer to higher-performing schools.

Education Board members said Friday that they were delighted with the foundations' proposal to develop a strategic plan, and they expect to formalize the joint effort with a vote in August.

"I wish we could start this five years ago," said Education Board Chairman Sam Ledbetter of Little Rock in response to the proposal, which he called phenomenal. "But we can't. It's like planting a tree. We've got to do it today."

Board member Vicki Saviers of Little Rock said the partnership will produce reflection and a vision for public education that state departments of education have little time to tackle in the midst of the day-to-day demands of their work.

"This is the right way to go," Saviers said. "We can do this. I am fully convinced we can do this in a way that will be the envy of everyone else in the United States."

Board member Jay Barth of Little Rock said the proposal is "incredibly well-timed," in light of the board's classification of the 26 academically distressed schools just the day before.

"I left that meeting knowing that was the right thing to do now, but I also left the meeting wondering, 'What do we do next?'" Barth said. "Unfortunately, too often in the past, it has not been clear what comes next. Thank you all for giving us hope that there is a 'what comes next.'"

Smith of the Bentonville-based Walton Family Foundation told the board that she and West-Scantlebury did not come to Friday's board session to say that they have all the answers.

"There are a lot of fine educators in this room and across the state, and there are other stakeholders who have worked in education for many, many years," Smith said. "What we are proposing to do is harness those resources -- bring them together -- to come up with a solid plan and a variety of options that this board can use for those schools that are in trouble."

The array of options that are ultimately developed can benefit other schools, she said. They can provide support to teachers and schools before schools get to the point of academic distress, and they can take other schools "from good to great."

"This is a collective effort," Smith said. "Many stakeholders across the state would come together with great ideas. We have ideas. Our ideas are no better than anybody else's that has done this work for a long time. We think that if we have a solid plan, then we can leverage our resources -- philanthropic and public resources -- on some very targeted interventions. It will make us more effective."

One of the first steps in developing the plan for improving education will be the completion this fall of a report on the state of public education in Arkansas that will be composed of data but lack recommendations, West-Scantlebury said.

Another first step will be the selection of a consultant to work with the foundations and the state in developing the plan.

The selection process could be completed by the time the Education Board votes in August, enabling the consultant to start work right after the board action.

Between August and January, West-Scantlebury said she envisions the publication of "white papers" containing some interim findings and recommendations.

"By January, when the new Legislature and new governor are in place, we'll have something to say about a point of a view around education," she said.

A final plan should be finished in March, she said, but added that the plan isn't going to be written by a consultant sitting in a room. Instead, efforts will be made to visit and involve parents and other community members around the state in developing a plan tailored to Arkansas' needs.

West-Scantlebury also said that a student achievement plan may or may not require additional money but it should help use available resources in the best way. That could include redeployment of resources or more efficient use of money.

Education Board member Mireya Rieth of Springdale urged the planners to take into account the work and measures taken by Education Department staff members, including the relatively new Office of Intensive Support, who are already working with academically distressed campuses and districts.

The schools classified as academically distressed include Baseline Elementary, Cloverdale Middle, Henderson Middle, J.A. Fair High, Hall High and McClellan High in the Little Rock School District; Belair Middle, Oak Park Elementary and Pine Bluff High in the Pine Bluff School District; and Harris Elementary, Jacksonville High and Wilbur D. Mills High in the Pulaski County Special School District.

Also classified are Augusta High, Blytheville High New Tech, Covenant Keepers Charter School in Little Rock, Dollarway High, Fordyce High, Forrest City High, Forrest City Junior High and Lincoln Academy of Excellence in Forrest City.

Others classified are Central High in the Helena-West Helena School District, Marvell-Elaine High, Osceola High, Strong High in the Strong-Huttig School District and Watson Chapel High.

Stephens High in the Stephens School District is classified as academically distressed, but the school has been closed and the district has been divided among three other school districts for the coming year.

Metro on 07/12/2014

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