Another $220 million?

The church is not the building

JERRY GUESS is not in an enviable position. He was appointed by the state to be superintendent of Pulaski County’s school district back in 2011. Yes, appointed. The state’s education commissioner fired the former superintendent and dissolved the school board. That’s after the district got into trouble and was placed on the Fiscally Distressed list because of past audit findings, mismanagement and overspending. It can’t be easy to clean up that kind of mess. Just think, the school board was dissolved.

But now Superintendent Guess is proposing a $220 million plan to upgrade school buildings in the district. The PCSSD got into trouble, in part, because of overspending. So the answer is to spend even more? Taxpayers in Pulaski County must be scratching their heads.

In his pitch to the state Board of Education, the superintendent said he wants $220 million for two new high school buildings, renovations to others, and all the improvements would be spread around the county. Or as he told the board, there would be something for everyone in the plan. Which comes as no surprise. The best way to get more people to buy in to such a project is to spread the swag around. And all that would have to be done is raise the property tax. And maybe ask state taxpayers for a handout.

We’ve never bought the angry talk-radio line that all kids need is a one-room heated building with a scold of a school marm with a chalkboard and a paddle. If your children are going to be competitive, they’ll need science labs and computer classes. But the schools in Pulaski County already have science labs and computer classes. Now comes this idea to spend another $220 million and spread it out all over the county. When will Arkansas learn that the key to a better education is not newer classrooms but better teachers? And the way to get better teachers is not renovations to buildings but real reform—the kind that emphasizes accountability, transparency and choice.

Hold teachers accountable for the grades their students make on standardized tests. The ones who teach well, recognize them and reward them. The ones who don’t, suggest a different career. Allow charter schools to experiment with innovative ways to teach, and make the traditional public schools compete with them. Those are proven ways to boost education, and they can be done with a lot less money than $220 million.

As a friend told us this week while discussing this story, the church is not the building. It’s the people inside the building.

That goes for schools, too. Or should.