Dr. Harry Alvis

  "Don't tell my replacement where the good pens are until they've earned it."     - A Retiring Teacher I Used to Work With Many Years Ago Every spring, as the anxiety over state testing (and the pollen count) rises, something else begins to happen in Arkansas public schools.  Hiring season. As a Superintendent, I've learned to recognize the signs.  Principals start walking a little faster.  District administration develop a thousand-yard stare.  Retiring teachers start acting like they have found the fountain of youth, and somewhere, a spreadsheet is opened that will not be closed again until July (at least we hope it is closed by then).   Welcome to staff turnover season. The Positives:  Fresh Ideas and Fresh Energy A lot of people see turnover as a negative, but there is good news.  Hiring season is an opportunity.   Every new teacher, bus driver, paraprofessional, cafeteria worker, etc. brings fresh energy into our building...

  "Reality is the leading cause of stress for those that are in touch with it."     - Jane Wagner Unplanned Innovation    If you have worked in public education in Arkansas for more than 15 minutes, you have probably noticed that we don't PLAN innovation nearly as often as we stumble into it while trying to survive something else. Inclement weather?  Innovation. Pandemic?  Innovation (whether we liked or agreed with it or not). System altering legislation rammed through in record time?  Innovation. Internet goes down during state testing?  Not innovation...but definitely character revealing.   The title of this post is often attributed to Winston Churchill, "Never let a good crisis go to waste".  While he was not thinking about bus routes, school finance, or school scheduling when he made the statement, it is a little too 'on the nose' for Arkansas public schools.     If we are being honest, some of our best ideas did...

  "The tax which will be paid for the purpose of education is not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings and nobles who will rise up among us if we leave the people in ignorance."        — Thomas Jefferson.   In everyday life, "debt" carries a negative connotation - something to fear, avoid, or eliminate entirely.  A person or family certainly should not depend on it.  Which is a mindset that makes perfect sense. However, in the world of public school finance, debt is not only appropriate, it is necessary.  The personal finance mindset does not translate to public schools. Without debt, most schools simply could not operate the way communities expect them to.   Think about what we ask our schools to provide: Safe buildings Modern classrooms Secure entrances Functioning HVAC systems Up to date technology State of the art Career and Technical Ed programs Transportation Any facility that supports anything from acad...

“We’re the only profession where success depends on 25 other people’s choices—and then we try to pay based on it.” “Tying teacher pay to test scores is like judging a chef based on how hungry the customers were when they walked in.”                     - Unknown   More and more states have either implemented a merit pay system, or it is in the conversation stage as a silver-bullet solution for improving schools.  The idea is simple and appealing:   Reward great teachers financially, and student achievement will rise. Also, teachers who are not performing well,  will be motivated to do so.      But large-scale studies have struggled to confirm this chain of logic. One of the most well-known randomized studies—the Project on Incentives in Teaching (POINT) —found that bonus pay for middle school math teachers produced no significant gains in student achievement ( Springer et al., 2010). Simila...

  "Any fact becomes important when it is connected to another"                              - Umberto Eco   I don't think there is anyone out there who doesn't think that education could be improved.  No matter how "good" it is, there is ALWAYS the prospect of better on the horizon.  However, education is a very personal experience, and every person it is different.  What is highly effective for one, may not work for another.  For this reason, blanket "fixes" for the entire system have been nothing more than ways to produce headlines for political clout (that topic is a whole post by itself).  That is why my frustration grows at an exponential rate when non-educators decide they can "fix" our education system.     Reformers are POSITIVE that America's schools would be fine if teachers would just work harder, and they are sure they would do that if merit ...

  "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."                         - Derek Bok In Arkansas, school funding is a shared responsibility between state and local communities.  While the state provides foundation funding to help equalize opportunities, the financial health and long-term viability of a school district still depend heavily on local support. One question that occasionally arises in policy discussions AND discussions among communities is: Could a public school district remain viable if it relied ONLY on the minimum 25 mills from its local community? The short answer is it would be extremely difficult - and in many communities, impossible. Understanding the 25 Mil Requirement Arkansas law requires every school district to levy a uniform rate of 25 mills for maintenance and operation (M&O).  This tax is applied to the assessed  property value in the district and is used sole...