From Hope to Higher Ground: on Education
Sends his kids to public school; says other officials should
While many elected officials pontificate proudly about their deep interest in and commitment to public education, so many put their own children in private schools. If the public schools are so deserving of their (and our) support, why aren’t they
deserving of the ultimate support--having confidence enough in them for their own children to be educated there?My three children were the first children of any Arkansas governor in at least 50 years who spent their first through senior high
education entirely in the public schools of Arkansas. My wife and I are ourselves products of public schools. For us, there was no option as we grew up in families that could not have afforded a private school had one even existed in our hometown.
As governor, although the teachers’ union in Arkansas never supported me (mainly because they have so long been controlled by the machinery of the Democratic Party), improving education in the public schools has understandably been a priority for me.
Source: From Hope to Higher Ground, by Mike Huckabee, p. 42-43
Jan 4, 2007
Reformed AR education with Smart Start & Next Step
In 1998 I announced an initiative we called Smart Start, the first of several major reform efforts in Arkansas that were to focus on not only increasing funding but, more important, improved results. Later the K-4 Smart Start Initiative would be joined b
Smart Step for grades 5-8. Ultimately we launched Next Step, which was the full implementation of a reform strategy that included grades 9-12. It was a priority for me to develop more accessible and effective preschool programs and to make dramatic
changes in both access and affordability in higher education. We developed a seamless curriculum from pre-K through college so that there was coordination and continuity throughout the educational process. There are at least 5 elements essential to
improving schools:
- Mark the standards--with challenging goals
- Measure the progress--like with No Child Left Behind
- Meet the expectations--there must be accountability
- Mobilize the community
- Move the potential
Source: From Hope to Higher Ground, by Mike Huckabee, p. 43-45
Jan 4, 2007
Incorporate character education into school curriculum
In my first few years in office we laid the foundation for many reforms related to genuine standards,
including incorporating character education into the school curriculum to teach good manners and basic elements of personal character and honor.
Source: From Hope to Higher Ground, by Mike Huckabee, p. 44-45
Jan 4, 2007
Authorize & advance more charter schools
[As governor, we laid the foundation for] the authorization and advancement of charter schools. I have long advocated that charter schools are wonderful laboratories for educational reform.
Critics often complain that many charter schools fail, but that is precisely the point of a charter school and its difference from a traditional one. In a charter school, if it doesn’t succeed in meeting its agreed-upon goals, we simply close it.
Traditional public schools have failed for generations to adequately educate students, but they keep getting funded year after year.
Charter schools can bring innovative ideas to the marketplace with little long-term financial risk.
Source: From Hope to Higher Ground, by Mike Huckabee, p. 45-46
Jan 4, 2007
Replace entire school board for failing schools
One of the most important pieces of legislation passed in Arkansas to achieve educational reform was the Omnibus Education Act of 2003. This bill empowered the state board of education to do more than issue warnings to under-performing schools; it gave
them the authority to step in and two consecutive years of fiscal or academic distress and, when appropriate, terminate the superintendent, fire and replace the entire school board, and assume all operations of the failing school.
While a drastic measure, it is inexcusable that schools which fail to efficiently, properly, or adequately spend taxpayer money continue to exist year after year. Those responsible for such mismanagement should be held accountable.
Only in public education have we typically allowed total failure to result in continued employment and automatic annual pay raises.
Source: From Hope to Higher Ground, by Mike Huckabee, p. 48
Jan 4, 2007