I’m hearing that they will make another run this morning at getting SB 668 out of the Senate Education Committee. This is the bill to keep the Little Rock School District in perpetual state control.

Technically, the bill allows up to four years of continued state control for districts held to be in Level 5 academic distress on account of student test scores, even at only a few of dozens of schools, as is the case in Little Rock. But Sen. Kim Hammer’s bill is squarely aimed at the Little Rock School District and is even the work of an LRSD quisling, lawyer Jeff Wood who toes Education Commissioner Johnny Key’s party line as a Key appointee to the figleaf of a community advisory board Key appointed for the district under almost five years of state control. Wood seems to want to blame a long-ago school board for Key’s failure to get the job done in five years of oversight.

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Wood doesn’t want an elected school board any time soon. He made that clear in earlier testimony.

Little Rock’s self-proclaimed education mayor, Frank Scott Jr., and some of his allies should attend the committee meeting this morning and put in a plug for democracy.

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Sen. Mark Johnson (R-Ferndale) carried the bill for Hammer in its last outing. It was revealed then that he didn’t know much about the district he represents. He claimed it includes the Little Rock School District. I checked that with the Election Commiission this week. It doesn’t.  Hammer’s Senate district has a tiny slice of the district, about 800 LRSD voters, the Election Commission said.

The legislature never tires of kicking the Little Rock School District around. Yesterday it approved a school board packing bill, against the mythical day when the district actually has a school board. Voucher legislation targeted Little Rock. Charter school proliferation is primarily focused on Little Rock.

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Mayor Scott?  9 a.m. Room 207. City Board? You are welcome, too. I know. Don’t bother to include Lance Hines in your carpool.

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