Huckabee`s School Consolidation Point Man Gives Up
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
Governor Mike Huckabee`s point man for
school consolidation threw in the towel today. After days of
intense negotiations with consolidation foes, Senator Jim Argue
says he is resigned to there being NO major restructuring of public
schools during the special session that ends its fifth week today.
The House has rejected Huckabee`s plan to consolidate districts
with fewer than 500 students to make court-ordered education
reforms more affordable. Argue says it is now up to consolidation
opponents to come up with the best plan they can for correcting a
public education system that the state Supreme Court declared
unconstitutional last year.
That would include a new funding formula and new taxes to pay
for it. Argue says he`s struggling with asking Arkansans to pay
higher taxes for a school reforms that he says are destined to fall
short of what the state needs.
Argue says "We need to be taking great leaps in our
public education system. The best we`re going to do is tippy-toe."
