School standards’ successor sought

The Arkansas Department of Education is in the early stages of replacing the state’s 1984 standards for public school accreditation.

Deborah Coffman, the Education Department’s assistant commissioner for accountability, told state Board of Education members last week that the standards have become patched like an old tire and that the time has come to start over.

“We are giving it the grand old try,” she said of what she called a “messy draft” that will eventually go out to the public for review. “We want it to be tools that are useful and not just new tools.”

The 1984 standards, a milestone in the state’s history of public education, established for all schools and districts the parameters for operating.

Graduation requirements, high school courses and limits on the numbers of students per class are just some of the topics included in the standards, which were created by a 15-member committee appointed by then-Gov. Bill Clinton and chaired by thenfirst lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. In collecting information for writing the standards document, the members of the committee held a public hearing in each of the state’s 75 counties.

State Education Board member Ouida Newton of Poyen, a retired teacher, on Thursday agreed with Coffman that it is time for new standards.

“Our standards are not keeping up with where our kids need to be,” Newton said, noting that nearly 100 districts have sought and received waivers from state laws and accreditation standards.

“As long as we are holding on to old standards, it is going to be really difficult for districts to let go of old ways,” Newton said.