Education in Arkansas
Your “Ad Watch” column of May 23 contained several factual errors about education in Arkansas in an analysis of one of Gov. Bill Clinton’s campaign ads.
* “The state’s schools ranked among the nation’s worst . . . and they still do.” The only areas in which Arkansas education ranks low are those related to spending. Arkansas is a historically poor state with limited resources; even so, we rank in the top two or three states in the percentage of our state budget dedicated to education and rank high in education spending compared to individual income. In comparisons of effort and progress toward improving teaching and learning, Arkansas has earned praise from educators across the country. Arkansas schools were deemed the nation’s worst in 1978 in a study done by Dr. Kern Alexander. Returning to Arkansas in 1990, Dr. Alexander declared that was no longer the case, saying, “It has surprised me that you have moved as quickly as you have.”
* “His sex education and health clinic proposals were instituted only recently and only in some places.” The state began assisting school districts that wished to establish school-based health clinics in 1985, seven years ago. Arkansas now funds 21 such clinics, reaching thousands of Arkansas children who wouldn’t otherwise have access to health care.
* “His driver’s license revocation law passed just last year and has not been fully implemented.” The driver’s license law was enacted in 1989. As of April, 1992, 1,750 student licenses had been suspended.
* “Graduation rates are up . . . but still lag behind the national average.” According to the most recent report by the U.S. Department of Education, Arkansas’ graduation rate is 77.2%, well above the national average of 71.1%. In fact, Arkansas’ rate increased 6.4% while the national average fell by 1.2%.
* “Test scores have not gone up, and in some areas have dropped.” Since the enactment of the school standards in 1983, test scores for Arkansas students have risen from well below the national median in all test areas to substantially above.
In fact, no statement made in this accuracy analysis is accurate.
MIKE GAULDIN, Press Secretary
Office of the Governor
Little Rock, Ark.
