Busy day at the state Board of Education, as its useful blog reports:
* The Board split the Twin Rivers School District up among six other districts, but also increased the enrollment limit of a charter school in Imboden to allow that as an option for more current students.
* Over some expressions of concern that the school was moving farther from its target audience of black males, the Board voted 4-2 to allow the Urban Collegiate Public Charter School for Young Men to open on what is now the Lutheran High School Campus on West Markham Street near Park Plaza Mall rather than in a former car dealership on South University Avenue. Sam Ledbetter and Alice Mahony voted no. The Board member who is employed in private life by the Walton Foundation to advance the charter school agenda, Naccaman Williams, naturally was among the four who voted for whatever the charter school wanted, along with (Walton-financed) eStem charter school founder Vicki Saviers. (CORRECTION: In this case, Williams didn’t vote because he’s Board chairman and his vote wasn’t necessary to break a tie.) Jim Cooper and Toyce Newton weren’t present.
UPDATE: Little Rock School Board member Jody Carreiro, who opposes a lawsuit by LRSD over charter schools, wrote an interesting letter about the charter move — from a neighborhood with needy kids to a majority white neighborhood with succeeding schools where target kids will require even longer transportation.