NEWS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS RELEASE, CONTACT: Linda Bennett 501-374-9225 or labennett@ascc-aia.org
SPEAK UP, ARKANSAS! Gives Citizens A Voice In Education Reform
(LITTLE ROCK) – Arkansas citizens in all 75 counties will have a chance to come together on Thursday, April 4, to discuss what they want their public schools to do to educate children.
The Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education will host community meetings – called SPEAK UP, ARKANSAS! – in all 75 counties in an organized effort to allow every Arkansas citizen the chance to contribute ideas for education reform. These meetings will be held simultaneously across the state from 6 to 8 p.m. on that night.
The meeting in Boone County will be held in the John Paul Hammerschmidt Business and Conference Center on the South Campus of North Arkansas College.
“There will be at least one location in each county where Arkansas citizens will have the opportunity to express their ideas and views on improving education in our state,” said Bob McGinnis, co-chair of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education. “It’s a statewide event unlike anything we have ever seen before,” said McGinnis.
According to the Commission, the question that will be addressed by participants that evening is “What do you want from our public schools?”
“This simple question invites all kinds of responses,” said Stacy Pittman, Blue Ribbon Commission co-chair. “That’s what the Commission wants—to know what the public wants. That means parents, students, teachers, administrators, school board members, business people, community leaders and senior citizens—all of Arkansas—can voice their concerns about public education and discuss solutions.”
Each of the county sites will have trained facilitators to help lead the discussions and to record participant input. In all 75 counties, participants will view a brief video about education in Arkansas and then break into small groups to discuss problems and solutions. Notes regarding that county’s concerns and suggestions will then be forwarded to the Blue Ribbon Commission.
“We want the public to understand that these meetings are about them, about their communities and about their ideas for improving education,” said Pittman. “These are not public hearings or gripe sessions. This is a unique opportunity for Arkansans’ ideas about education reform to be heard.”
The Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education was created by the legislature last year to respond to a Chancery Court judge’s ruling in the Lake View School District case that the state’s system of educating its children is inadequate and inequitable. The decision has been appealed to the State Supreme Court, but many educators and legislators believe it will be upheld.
-MORE- The Commission has been meeting regularly since last June and is charged with defining “adequate” and “equitable” and providing recommendations on education reform to the Arkansas General Assembly no later than July 1, 2002.
SPEAK UP, ARKANSAS! forums are sponsored by the Blue Ribbon Commission and co-sponsored by the Arkansas School Boards Association and the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce/Associated Industries of Arkansas. KATV-Channel 7 and AETN (Arkansas Educational Television Network) will host broadcast events the evening of April 4 for those who cannot attend a SPEAK UP, ARKANSAS! forum in their community.
Facilitators for the SPEAK UP, ARKANSAS! forums will be trained with the assistance of the Study Circles Resource Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that has worked with the Arkansas School Boards Association for the past four years to promote study circles to address education reform.
For more information about the SPEAK UP, ARKANSAS! forums, including a regularly updated list of county sites, go to www.EducationInArkansas.com, the official web site of the Blue Ribbon Commission. Additional information about local community sites will be made available soon to local media in every Arkansas county. Co-chairs of the Blue Ribbon Commission and their telephone numbers are:
BOB MCGINNIS (870-732-4044) STACY PITTMAN (501-975-6251)