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78 JANUARY 2020
ARKANSAS TIMES
ROCKEFELLER SPENT $750,000 OF HIS OWN MONEY (INFLATION-ADJUSTED, THE EQUIVALENT OF AROUND $7 MILLION TODAY) ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW, STATE-OF-THE-ART WHITE REYNOLDS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. The second question was about taxes. Rockefeller offered to fund his model schools program for five years on condition that local residents raise taxes to sustain it afterward. Following a much-heated debate, the community agreed. Over the next five years, Rockefeller spent $750,000 of his own money (inflation-adjusted, the equivalent of around $7 million today) on the construction of a new, state-of-the-art white Reynolds Elementary School, named after Arkansas educator John Hugh Reynolds, a former president of the University of Arkansas and Hendrix College, and the father of George M. Reynolds. Hundreds of thousands of dollars more were spent on school enrichment programs during the same period. The progress made through the investments fast became evident. By 1960, class sizes were reduced from 36 to 30 students. A much broader curriculum was introduced. Teaching capabilities in the district were strengthened through professional development. Teachers’ salaries were raised by 10 percent. Furniture, equipment and school physical plants were all enhanced. Health, physical education and dental monitoring were all improved. A school nurse was hired, local doctors cooperated in physical examinations, and local dentists started school dental examinations, which in turn led to the fluoridation of the local water supply and fewer cavities. A school psychologist was hired to work with students on emotional and other issues, increasing the retention rate. Fifty-eight percent more of Morrilton’s high school graduates were
going to college in 1960 than four years earlier. Student test scores rose significantly as a result of better-funded and better-equipped schools. In 1956, only one out of 10 grades tested at the national average. In 1957, five out of 10 grades tested at the national average. In 1958, eight out of 10 grades tested at or above the national average. School officials attributed the success “to the extraordinary efforts of teachers and staff, to the close cooperation of parents and patrons and to the desire of the pupils themselves.” The benefits of investment in local schools were plain for everyone to see. However, when the vote to raise taxes to continue the model schools program was held in December 1960, it was defeated by a 2-to-1 margin. Dr. Verrell O. McNabb, a Morrilton optometrist, wrote a letter to Rockefeller with apologetic words about his fellow citizens that echoed down the ages: “This morning, I am ashamed. We Morrilton people, in the decisive vote yesterday, have indicated that we don’t put a very high value on the educational level of our young people. It seems that we prefer ultra-conservatism to progress.” McNabb added, “Perhaps it is significant that such a large percentage of our community’s population is on the Welfare roll, that our per capita income is so low, and that ours, relatively, is a state of retarded progress. We just simply refuse to be lifted up.” The defeat was a rude awakening for Rockefeller about the uphill task he faced in transforming Arkansas. What he did, and perhaps more importantly, what he did not do next, reveals much about Rockefeller’s fundamental commitment to