From the Governor

Arkansas education receives respectable ranking

Education Week ranks state fifth in K-12 education

Arkansas’s efforts to provide students with a first-class education received positive affirmation in January from the country’s leading education journal, Education Week. The journal’s annual “Quality Counts” report grades all 50 states and the District of Columbia on the policies and performance of their schools. This year, Arkansas’s public education system was named the fifth best in the U.S. The number five spot is one better than last year, and it represents steady improvement. We now trail only Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Virginia in these rankings.

The report found that we are the best in the nation at coordinating connections between K-12 and other segments of the education pipeline; namely early childhood education, college readiness and the workforce. This shows that we are on the right path toward our goals of doubling the number of Arkansans with college degrees and better preparing our workforce for the 21st century economy.

Early this year, the first 15 school districts and one college technical center were chosen to participate in Arkansas’s STEM Works initiative. These schools will focus on educating students in science, technology, engineering and math — fields that require the most qualified workers and have great potential for expanding the state’s economy. Perhaps now more than ever, education and economic development are aligned to build the strong workforce needed for Arkansas’s future prosperity.

Another bright spot in Education Week’s report came in the strength of our teachers and the tools we provide to them. In this category, we received the highest grade awarded this year. Conversely, the nation’s overall score fell, again showing the effects of our nation’s economic struggles. The dire financial straits of some states have them falling way behind in funding teacher-related policies and programs. Arkansas, however, has improved, thanks to our specific educational priorities and conservative budgeting practices. We will continue to balance our commitment to fund education with our cautious fiscal management. My proposed balanced budget for the 2013 fiscal year includes a 2 percent increase for public schools.

While the report shows that we’re doing many things right, we still haven’t done enough. Our low marks in student achievement demonstrate that further hard work is needed. The journal bases its conclusions on three criteria: current student performance, improvements over time and poverty-based achievement gaps. All of us — parents, teachers and community members — must instill in our children the importance of an education and work with them, so they can succeed academically. Providing the best learning environment possible will only work if students understand the vital difference an education will make in their lives.

Overall, the report represents unprecedented and praiseworthy recognition for Arkansas. But today’s economy is global and unkind to complacency. We’ve come a long way as a state in our pursuit of academic excellence, and we must continue making improvements that help our students and Arkansas’s future.

From The Governor

Hon. Mike Beebe Governor of Arkansas

Mike Beebe

The Honorable Mike Beebe Governor of Arkansas

NACo County News - Yellow Dot program helps first responders save lives

By Charles Taylor NACo County News, Senior Staff Writer

Yellow dots are showing up in counties nationwide, and first responders couldn’t be happier to see them.

The canary-colored spots are appearing on the rear windows of vehicles, signaling that lifesaving medical information can be found in the driver’s glove compartment.

If a traffic accident or sudden onset of a medical crisis renders the driver unable to communicate, the information can help him or her receive the proper treatment.

Nassau County, N.Y. is among the latest jurisdictions to launch a Yellow Dot Program, the first of which can be traced back to Connecticut in 2002. Orange County, Va. has had its program since 2004; Lee County, Ala. for about a year, and Erie County, N.Y. just approved one. Illinois has a statewide program. The programs are free to participants.

“The first moments of a first responder’s time in care are the critical moments, they’re called the Golden Hour,” said Edward P. Mangano, Nassau County executive, when announcing the program late last month. “Think about it when you drive, if you were unable to communicate, how would someone be able to contact someone that could help you with that vital information?”

Information such as medications a person is taking, allergies, emergency contact phone numbers, recent surgeries and a photograph of the driver are kept in a packet or on a card in the glove box. Nassau and other counties offer the program in addition to File of Life or Vial of Life programs that consolidate similar information that is placed in the home on a refrigerator door.

Some counties tailor their programs mainly to the elderly, but virtually all are open to anyone wishing to participate.

In Alabama, about 18,000 of Lee County’s 124,000 residents have signed up to participate, according to Maj. Tommy Carter of the Sheriff’s Office. “We have really pushed this hard and heavy; it doesn’t take but just a few minutes to sign up,” he said.