Arkansas Department of Education(ADE) officials say they believe every resident of the state is a stakeholder and encourages them to read the latest draft and send feedback by August 31st to ade.essacomments@arkansas.gov. The department will submit the final version to the U.S. Department of Education by September 18th.
According to the draft, when the ADE responded to state and federal statutory requirements in the early 2000’s, the support and accountability was focused primarily on ensuring adequacy following the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Arkansas Supreme Court Lake View School District ruling. The Lake View School District number 25 versus Huckabee ruling in 2002 notes it is the absolute duty of the state to provide all public school children with a substantially equal opportunity for an adequate education.
In contrast, the Arkansas Educational and Accountability System described in the ESSA plan reflects the ADE’s new vision, titled “A Vision for Excellence in Education.”
Superintendent of Mountain Home Public Schools, Dr. Jake Long, says he believes this third draft deals with more than just adequacy.
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Dr. Long says the Lake View decision focused more on the areas of adequacy versus equity in the areas of funding. He says “A Vision for Excellence in Education” moves beyond to focus more on the accountability of achievement.
To learn more about the development of Arkansas’ plan, visit the website http://www.arkansased.gov/ and follow the department of social media.
They can be followed on Twitter, @ArkansasEd.
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