Will Bentonville schools listen to common sense?

“Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean that you should do it.”

This was an Arkansas legislator’s statement and the theme of the legislative Education Committee meeting held in Little Rock in January. The Education Committee met to question Bentonville School District Superintendent Debbie Jones and school board President Kelly Carlson regarding the school board’s vote to donate approximately 9 acres of district land on Bentonville High School’s campus to the Excellerate Foundation.

The issue was the legality and appropriateness of donating taxpayer-owned land earmarked for educational purposes to the multimillion-dollar Excellerate Foundation for providing “affordable housing” for school district employees and others in the community. In light of the overwhelming objections from the education committee as well as the outcry from citizens within the Bentonville School District and those living in the area of the proposed development adjacent to Bentonville High School, I was encouraged by the straightforward and common-sense idea proposed by school board member Joel Dunning at the March school board meeting, Dunning proposed that the board pull a committee together to study providing hiring bonuses to recruit excellent teachers to the Bentonville School District. Dunning stated that at a prior board meeting, members voted to invest $20 million in one-year U.S. Treasury bills, earning approximately $1.2 million in interest. He proposed the interest be used to offer at least a $10,000 hiring bonus to teachers earning $60,000 annually or less. Dunning stated that the bonus would make Bentonville teachers recruited to Bentonville schools the highest paid in the state. Teachers could use this money to purchase or rent housing in the area of their choice, instead of being locked into a housing arrangement that would be not only be temporary, but controlled by their employer, Bentonville schools.

This is a proven method used by many industries for an edge in hiring. Most importantly, it would not require giving away taxpayer-owned district assets for a convoluted, big brother scheme formulated by the district, Excellerate, big developers, area banks and others to pad their already bulging pockets with tax credits at the expense of overburdened taxpayers.

Let’s hope and pray Dunning’s idea doesn’t involve so much common sense that it goes right over the heads of the rest of the school board. GAIL PIANALTO

Bella Vista