EDITORIAL
EYE ON ARKANSAS
Cotton’s pets
U
Worthwhile
sually in election years, well-meaning Arkansans are on the defensive, trying to resist the latest prejudicial proposals from Jerry Cox and his Family Council. This year, for a change, there may be issues on the ballot that Arkansans of good will can vote for. A group called Give Arkansas a Raise Now is gathering signatures for a proposed initiated act that would raise the state minimum wage from $6.25 an hour to $7.25. The group’s members include the president of the Arkansas AFL-CIO, the president of the Arkansas chapter of the NAACP, and the chief executive officer of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association. A bill to raise the Arkansas minimum wage to $8.25 an hour failed in the Republican-controlled state House of Representatives last year. Opponents of the proposal will argue once again that raising the minimum wage will raise unemployment. They will say that people who don’t know this are ignorant of economics. The proper reply to this argument is that the people who make it don’t know history. The record shows repeatedly that unemployment does not go up when the minimum wage goes up. The record also shows that Arkansas’s commitment to a low-wage policy has kept the state and its residents pinned near the bottom economically. We deserve a chance to improve. 6
JANUARY 23, 2014
ARKANSAS TIMES
BRIAN CHILSON
T
om Cotton values unborn children more than the other kind. They’re less trouble, he explains. Those children that have already been born, or their caregivers, tiresomely seek food, shelter, education and other benefits, even when the little boogers can’t pay for those things. It’s as if they think America should nurture its young. If not for the vigilance of the congressman from Dardanelle, and a few others like him, the kids would sneak their hands into the government’s pocket, grabbing dollars that could be used for altruistic purposes, like drones and pipelines. Cotton says it’s never too early for these little hustlers to learn there’s no free lunch, not unless you’re a congressman being entertained by a lobbyist. The unborn child, on the other hand, tends to lie quietly, not bothering his congressman. In gratitude, Cotton attended and spoke at an anti-abortion rally Sunday at the Capitol. Judging from news accounts, his remarks were unmemorable. Cotton is nasty, but he’s not eloquent. His gubernatorial candidacy is sponsored by the Club for Growth. Even among the radical right-wing lobby groups in Washington, the Club for Growth is distinguished for coldheartedness. The Club for Growth is too mean for John Boehner. Even while laboring to keep food stamps from poor children, to deny government assistance to the mentally ill and health care to veterans, Cotton found time to fight for fetuses at an anti-abortion rally. The unborn have a right to be born, he believes. The already born have used up all their rights.
WINTER SEEDS: A crepe myrtle branch is illuminated in fog by a street light.
Charter ‘choice’: creationism
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ne of the maddening aspects of the push to destroy conventional school districts with charter schools is the underlying theme that all conventional public schools are failing and if you slap the word “charter” on a school it must be good. One of the Walton-financed professors up at the University of Arkansas’s charter school marketing department even wrote the other day that it was fair to judge public schools by standardized test scores, but not what he calls “choice” schools. I guess not. Because on study after study, charter schools don’t outperform. A national study by a Stanford University-based group found that one charter school management company, Responsive Education Solutions of Lewisville, Texas, did a particularly poor job with at-risk students. Responsive Ed operates Premier High School in Little Rock, Northwest Arkansas Classical Academy in Bentonville and Quest middle school in Pine Bluff. It just won approval for a Quest middle and high school in Chenal Valley, where it will skim upper income, predominantly white families anxious to avoid Little Rock public schools. It also has won state Education Department approval to consult and provide curriculum for three school districts converting conventional schools to charters — in Pea Ridge, Fountain Lake and West Memphis, where the whole high school will be shaped by Responsive Ed. Responsive Ed’s growth in Arkansas came just as Slate was about to publish explosive reporting by Zack Kopplin, a young political activist. Kopplin detailed the influence of creationism (religion) in the science courses taught in Responsive Ed’s Texas schools. Though the schools run on public money and have a secular “veneer,” the organization has many ties to the creationist movement and figures who have pushed for more religion in public life, the article reported. Kopplin also quoted dubious material in history courses, from roots of war to jabs at feminism and John Kerry’s war record. Neither Responsive Ed nor Gary Newton, the Wal-
ton-financed Arkansas charter school lobbyist who’s led the Quest school establishment in Chenal Valley, wanted to talk about the Slate article with me. But Chuck Cook, CEO of Responsive Ed, did post a MAX prepared statement on the ArkanBRANTLEY maxbrantley@arktimes.com sas Blog. He said Responsive Ed complies with the law in Texas on science teaching and, as for historical challenges, said the school complies with all regulations. He addressed no specific citations of error. His response was telling about his beliefs: “In recent years, these two schools of thought — creationism and evolution — have been at conflict in schools, universities, and scientific circles,” he wrote. “Some scientists and educators have attempted to bridge them through ideas such as intelligent design and theistic evolution. However, none of these theories is accepted by every scientist, natural philosopher, or educator. In this Unit, you will be able to review the evidence for the theory of evolution and decide on your own position. You will want to analyze and evaluate the evidence and every statement made in the discussion.” Cook accused Kopplin of guilt by association. He portrayed himself as being persecuted because he’s “ a professed Christian, attend church each week, have a degree in religion, have worked at a Christian rescue mission, and have worked at Accelerated Christian Education.” Religious dog whistle aside, I’d already decided, based on its jargon-filled application, that Responsive Ed offered little more for West Little Rock than, as state Board of Education member Sam Ledbetter observed, its existence. It will be a haven for a certain type of student from another type of student. I’d be inclined to take my chances at one of those “failing” Little Rock schools, such as Central High, which produced the state’s only Intel Science Talent Search semi-finalist this year. I know they teach science.