Now what?
Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Monday pulled the plug on Arkansas' continued involvement with the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Consortium.
Or, he set in motion the state's withdrawal, directing the Arkansas education commissioner to make it happen.
Hutchinson also asked Johnny Key, the former state legislator who now heads the Arkansas Department of Education, to coordinate with the state Board of Education on selecting a new testing provider.
Yes, that would be the same Board of Education that recently voted 7-1 to contract again with PARCC for the federally required testing in the public schools, the same board that specifically rejected Gov. Hutchinson's plan to switch to ACT and ACT Aspire in the future.
It is quite a showdown.
The governor's latest move is based on a provision in a 2010 memorandum of understanding between the state and PARCC. It requires a new governor or chief state school officer to reaffirm the state's involvement within five months of taking office, according to Hutchinson.
PARCC tests align with Common Core school standards, which are also under review in Arkansas; and Hutchinson contends it is time to do something different.
He also notes that Arkansas legislators made clear in the regular session earlier this year that they want to move away from PARCC, too. They had even threatened to block a new contract, if one were submitted for legislative review.
Commissioner Key supports the decision to leave PARCC. He said on Monday that he will notify PARCC and immediately begin developing options for a new assessment to present to the state board. The list will surely include ACT and ACT Aspire but not be limited to those.
Again, Gov. Hutchinson in a letter to Key renewed his preference but acknowledged that he cannot dictate the change.
"The issue here is how we can provide a high-level assessment for students and bring long-term stability to the schools," he wrote.
"In my judgment, ACT and ACT Aspire are the right assessment tools to accomplish the goal of national comparison of student achievement and long-term stability. I recognize the role of the State Board of Education in assessment selection and that certain steps are required to make a change."
Then he instructed Key to coordinate with the board.
Board of Education members haven't yet said what they will do in response.
Remember, this is a board that voted 7-1 on June 11 to stay with PARCC for one more year and voted 7-1 to reject ACT and ACT Aspire.
That's a stout majority, but the governor appears to have removed PARCC testing from the discussion by his refusal to reaffirm commitment to the multi-state consortium.
The governor's position is pretty stout, too. Arkansas will be leaving PARCC. Period.
Besides, the deadline to renew the contract for PARCC tests for the next school year is July 1.
Factoring into all of this is the fact that the Board of Education isn't scheduled to meet again until July 9, when its makeup could be changed.
Three of the nine members of the board will be gone. They include Sam Ledbetter of Little Rock, the chairman, and Alice Mahony of El Dorado, whose terms expire at the end of the month, and Kim Davis of Fayetteville, who is resigning because of job obligations.
Hutchinson will appoint their replacements. All of the current board members are appointees of former Gov. Mike Beebe.
You can expect some accommodation on the part of the remaining board members to work with the new appointees and with Commissioner Key and Gov. Hutchinson.
But those remaining board members had some strong opinions about PARCC and the advisability of abandoning those tests after just one year and the state's sizable investment in them.
Nevertheless, PARCC would seem to be off the table and the board will have to look at these other options to test Arkansas' schoolchildren.
They may or may not be persuaded to accept the governor's choice.
One last point:
Taxpayers have an interest in all of this because it involves a multi-million-dollar contract to provide the required testing in the schools and, if the requirement is not met, a potential loss of federal funding for public schools in this state.
The ultimate goal is a school system that teaches Arkansas children in a way that prepares them to be competitive with other children in the U.S. and the world.
Testing is the measurement, not the goal.
That's what the governor, the commissioner and the Board of Education must remember.
Brenda Blagg is a freelance columnist. E-mail comments or questions to [email protected].
Commentary on 06/24/2015