Education, Math, and More with Mr. Allison

This is the third and final post of a series to reveal the truth behind the movement to stop Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders' monumental transformation of the Arkansas education system. The inappropriately named CAPES stands for Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students. A more fitting name would probably be CARES for Citizens Against Reforming Education for Students. My first two posts in this series described what the petition peddlers hope to achieve and what LEARNS seeks to achieve. This final post of the series will expose who is leading this charge to prevent reform of an education system that fails too many kids. ( Part I , Part II ) The Governor's LEARNS Act is a plan to overhaul a system that leaves almost two-thirds of third graders below grade level in reading. According to the most recent data available for the Arkansas School Report Cards, less than 42% of high school graduates enrolled in college the fall following their senior year. Of those, more than ...

If you read Part I of this series, you know the goal of the petitioners is to overturn Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders' new education law called the LEARNS Act. Overturning LEARNS is an attempt to maintain the Arkansas public education system in its current form, a form that fails far too many students in our state. In this second part of this series, you'll learn what LEARNS is and why signing the petition is a bad deal. ( Part I , Part III ) Our goal is to mobilize citizen volunteers to overturn or veto the LEARNS Act ~ CAPES Website LEARNS is a sweeping, bold overhaul of Arkansas's public education system. In my 17 years as a teacher, I've suffered through several failed education reform efforts, including No Child Left Behind, Common Core, and Every Student Succeeds. All were long on promise and short on results. Many like to point the finger and blame teachers every time one of these reform efforts fails, but the truth is the vast majority of teachers want to see ...

If you are an Arkansas voter, you might have already been asked to sign a petition to “put LEARNS on the ballot.” If you haven’t been asked already, you likely will be soon. This is the first report in a three-part series to inform registered voters 1) what those peddling this petition hope to accomplish, 2) what LEARNS is and what Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders hopes to accomplish with its implementation, and 3) exactly who you are following if you do sign this petition. ( Part II , Part III ) Our goal is to mobilize citizen volunteers to overturn or veto the LEARNS Act ~ CAPES Website Before you place your signature on that petition (it seems odd there is no trace of the petition's text online), it is important to note that LEARNS is now law. What the petition actually seeks is to put the REMOVAL of LEARNS on the ballot. The folks circulating the petition and pushing this agenda are not asking for an opportunity to vote for LEARNS. They are looking for you to try to overturn LEA...

 In the wake of COVID, many universities ditched college entrance exams as hurdles to admission for incoming students. Since then, many parents, students, and even educators have written these exams off. There's a rather pervasive attitude out there that ACT/SAT scores don't really matter anymore.  I just looked through several Arkansas college websites to see if there's any point in even taking these exams anymore. What I found... If you're independently wealthy and don't need financial aid, you probably won't need to worry about an ACT/SAT score. Most of these colleges still have no ACT/SAT score requirement to prevent your admission. But if you want to compete for scholarships, most universities still need these scores for you to have any hope to receive one.  Some have scholarships that don't reference the scores, but these are mostly a drop in the bucket compared to the scholarships that do. So, if you're a parent who wants your kid to compete for s...

While not everyone needs to go to college to earn a decent living -- a lot of kids can go into a trade and make a great living -- statistics reveal the truth. On average, a college education makes a huge difference in lifetime earnings. The report linked here was published on the Arkansas Senate site in July 2020. Some interesting findings in the report... "Over the course of a 30-year career, a person with a bachelor’s degree will earn an estimated $1.25 million, compared to $550,000 that a college dropout will earn over the same period." "a person with a bachelor’s degree will earn an average of $32,000 in their first year in the workforce, compared to a high school graduate who will earn [on average] $12,700 in their first year of working." "Even when the cost of college loans is factored in, a degree is worth the investment, especially in Arkansas. The average debt for a bachelor’s degree in Arkansas is $26,800, compared to the national average of $28,650....

 I've seen teachers asking for donations for their classrooms. Supplies, materials, decorations, etc. All things teachers use hoping to help students learn. Probably from my upbringing, but I usually have a really hard time asking for things like this. But I did just apply for a $500 grant through ASTA for the first time.  ASTA -- Arkansas State Teachers Association -- is a non-union professional organization for Arkansas school employees. I joined ASTA because they offer a $2 Million liability insurance policy and lots of other benefits (including classroom grants) for much less than it costs to secure these benefits through the union. An added bonus is that none of my money goes to political candidates or causes. ASTA does survey its members regarding issues and legislation impacting Arkansas educators, and communicates the results to lawmakers and policy makers on issues under consideration. But they never donate your money to political campaigns or other groups that do....

Perhaps the most oft repeated question every math teacher hears. Worse, regardless how we answer it, the kid asking figures we're just blowing smoke and have no idea what we're talking about. Then of course, we also constantly see memes on social media, "Another day and I didn't use [fill in a high school math class here.]" The truth is, math is more than counting and memorizing formulas. The main reason most education systems require students to take as so much math, up to algebra or higher in most cases, is not so everyone can "cipher" as Jethro used to say on the Beverly Hillbillies. It's not so you have a bank of formulas memorized when you're 40 to pull out and use at the grocery store.   The reason you're required to take so much math is because it teaches you logic and reasoning. When you put these two things together you get good problem solvers. An THAT is why you're required to take so much math! So you'll develop problem so...

It's July 3rd. Next month Arkansas educators will return to school the Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders' new LEARNS Act in place. The new law--a revolutionary overhaul of Arkansas's public education system--aims to guarantee access to a high quality education to every Arkansas student. Still, it is vehemently opposed by many Arkansas educators and the Arkansas Education Association (teacher's union.) NOTE: I used the Vilonia School District salary schedules and the distribution of education and experience among Vilonia School District certified staff to build and evaluate these models. Though this post is not to advise or make suggestions to the Vilonia School District administration. I just happen to work at Vilonia, and I'm familiar with where this information is located and how to access it. These models would need tweaking for any other district to achieve similar goals to what I describe here.  One of the biggest sources of LEARNS discontent I've heard from ...