On November 14th, the Arkansas Department of Education Charter Authorizing Panel, chaired by Commissioner Dr. Tom Kimbrell, and consisting of six members of the Department’s senior staff, by a 6-0 vote, unanimously approved the parent-initiated, open enrollment public charter school application of Quest Middle School of West Little Rock. On December 16th, the Arkansas State Board of Education, in a 5-2 vote, agreed with attorneys from the Little Rock School District (LRSD) and Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD) to review the unanimous decision of the Authorizing Panel. That hearing is set for 9:00 am, Friday, January 10, 2014. It will require a majority of a quorum to overturn the decision of the Authorizing Panel. The Board’s decision will be final. Here are indisputable, data-supported facts as to why Quest’s application should be approved.

1. When it opened in 2010, Dr. Don R. Roberts Elementary School was the first elementary school built by the LRSD west of I-430 since 1978.
2. At 900 students, it was immediately the largest elementary school in the LRSD.
3. Based on last year’s Benchmark Exams, Roberts is the fifth highest performing elementary school in the State of Arkansas.
4. Because need exceeds capacity, three years after opening, PreK was cancelled at Roberts, forcing parents to send their four-year olds out of their attendance zone for their first public school experience.
5. There are three elementary and no secondary schools, middle or high, in Zone 4 (Northwest Little Rock) where Roberts is located.
6. There are three schools – one elementary, one middle and one high – in Zone 5 (West Little Rock).
7. Since 2011, Zone 5’s high school, J.A. Fair, has been designated by the Arkansas Department of Education as a Needs improvement Priority School, among the 42 lowest performing schools in Arkansas. 
8. Every other Zone in the LRSD has at least double the number of schools of Zones 4 and 5.
9. The attendance zone middle school for Roberts is Forest Heights, which is in Zone 3, on Evergreen, east of University Avenue.
10. The distance between Roberts and Forest Heights is 8.1 miles.
11. On the Benchmark Exams, of 872 reporting schools in Arkansas, Forest Heights was 850th in Math proficiency (lowest 2.5%).
12. On the Benchmark Exams, of 872 reporting schools in Arkansas, Forest Heights was 846th in Literacy proficiency (lowest 3%).
13. According to the Little Rock Police Department, there were 152 incidents at Forest Heights during the 2011-12 school year.
14. If the Little Rock School District converts Forest Heights to a K-8 STEM Academy, as proposed, Roberts’ zoned middle school will be Henderson Health Science Magnet.
15. Henderson, in Zone 5, is 7.4 miles from Roberts.
16. Since 2011, Henderson has been designated by the Arkansas Department of Education as a Needs improvement Priority School, among the 42 lowest performing schools in Arkansas.
17. On the Benchmark Exams, of 872 reporting schools in Arkansas, Henderson was 852nd in Math proficiency (lowest 2.3%).
18. On the Benchmark Exams, of 872 reporting schools in Arkansas, Henderson was 854th in Literacy proficiency (lowest 2%).
19. According to the Little Rock Police Department, there were 75 incidents at Henderson during the 2011-12 school year.
20. Since 2011, two of seven LRSD middle schools have been designated by the Arkansas Department of Education as Needs Improvement Priority Schools, among the 42 lowest performing schools in Arkansas.
21. Four of seven LRSD middle schools are among the lowest performing 41 schools in Arkansas in math.
22. Four of seven LRSD middle schools are among the lowest performing 31 schools in Arkansas in literacy.
23. The six of seven LRSD middle schools with capacity, including Mann Stipulation Magnet and Dunbar, are among the bottom 30% performing schools in Arkansas.
24. All LRSD middle schools, including Pulaski Heights, are among the bottom 50% performing schools in Arkansas.
25. The attendance zone high school for Roberts is Hall, which is in Zone 3, on H Street, just west of University Avenue.
26. The distance between Roberts and Hall is 8.3 miles.
27. Since 2011, Hall has been designated by the Arkansas Department of Education as a Needs improvement Priority School, among the 42 lowest performing schools in Arkansas.
28. According to the Little Rock Police Department, there were 329 incidents at Hall during the 2011-12 school year.
29. Since 2011, three of five LRSD high schools have been designated by the Arkansas Department of Education as Needs Improvement Priority Schools, among the 42 lowest performing schools in Arkansas.
30. Most of the residents of Zone 3, including Edge Hill, The Heights, Hillcrest, Cammack Village, Palisades, Robinwood, Foxcroft, and River Ridge are zoned to attend Central, even though Hall is in Zone 3 and closer to their homes.
31. LRSD has no plans to build a high school in West Little Rock.
32. Over half of the school age population in Little Rock is not in the traditional school district.
33. Of 106 fifth graders at Roberts last year, 35 remain in the Little Rock School District as sixth graders (33%).
34. Over a two-year period, the LRSD lost 588 students, 504 between the fifth and sixth grades.
35. Over a four-year period, the fifth to sixth grade exodus increased 460%.
36. LRSD has said construction of a West Little Rock Middle School is contingent upon the results of a just-begun facilities study, followed by a successful millage increase campaign.
37. LRSD has the fourth highest millage rate in Arkansas.
38. Of the twenty-one zip codes in Pulaski County, three in West Little Rock (72211, 72212, 72223) account for 23% of the entire county’s public school property tax revenue.
39. West Little Rock has 100% fewer schools than any other section of Little Rock.
40. Pulaski Technical College will hold its first-ever millage increase election in March.
41. The state-appointed superintendent of the state-controlled Pulaski County Special School District has also suggested a millage increase election.
42. A 5 mill increase was passed by Little Rock School District voters in May 2000 which funded $190,000,000 in construction bonds, of which $13,195,000 (6.95%) was used to construct Roberts.
43. The doors to Roberts Elementary School didn’t open until over a decade after the millage election.
44. The Attorney General told the Legislative Council that he agreed to allow the Joshua Intervenors’ attorney and LRSD to negotiate on the side, because the Intervenors’ attorney wanted a ban on construction of a West Little Rock Middle School as a condition for joining the Proposed Desegregation Settlement.
45. Before joining the Settlement, the LRSD Board passed a resolution prioritizing future state facilities funds from the Settlement for Southwest Little Rock and “Basic and Below Basic” students.
46. The LRSD Board president, from Zone 4, said the resolution was an inducement to get the Joshua Intervenors’ attorney to join the Settlement, which he did.
47. Hundreds of West Little Rock students cannot attend the public middle and high schools closest to their homes because the state-appointed superintendent of the state-controlled Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD) and LRSD exempted their districts from the Public School Choice Act of 2013..
48. Children of public school district employees may attend schools in their parents’ employer district no matter where they live.
49. Even if LRSD students could attend Joe T. Robinson Middle School, on the Benchmark Exams, of 872 reporting schools in Arkansas, Robinson was 576th in Math proficiency (lowest 34%).
50. On the Benchmark Exams, of 872 reporting schools in Arkansas, Robinson was 699th in Literacy proficiency (lowest 20%).
51. The proposed location of Quest (1815 Rahling Road) is as close or closer to five of the six LRSD and PCSSD feeder elementary schools located west of I-430 than those schools’ currently zoned middle schools; the sixth, Joe T. Robinson, is on the same campus as its middle school.
52. LRSD has no plans to build a high school in West Little Rock.
53. Quest is a tuition-free public school.
54. Quest would initially serve students in grades 6 – 8, expanding to 6 – 12 by 2018-19.
55. Quest would be open to all students, no matter their resident school district.
56. Quest would open in seven months.
57. Quest would be operated by the nonprofit Responsive Education Solutions of Lewisville, Texas, which operates 65 campuses, including three in Arkansas.
58. ResponsiveEd is partnering with three school districts in Arkansas to operate their proposed conversion charter schools.
59. ResponsiveEd has never closed a school because of budgetary issues.
60. Three of the five parents most responsible for the selection of Dr. Dexter Suggs as the Little Rock School District superintendent are leaders of the Quest Action Group.
61. One of those parents led other Roberts parents in volunteering  at their zoned middle school, even though their middle school children do not attend there, resulting in more than tripling PTA membership and fundraising over the previous year.
62. Quest would be autonomous of any school district, but directly accountable to the Arkansas Department of Education and parents with a demonstrated commitment to excellent public education, traditional and charter.

The Little Rock School District did not vote to ask the State Board of Education to review Quest’s unanimous approval. Its attorney wrote, and his associate spoke, seeking appeal, while the Board remained silent.

The state-appointed superintendent of the state-controlled Pulaski County Special School District has no board. He unilaterally chose, and his attorney was allowed, to join the LRSD attorneys in seeking the State Board’s review, 58 days after the Department’s deadline for districts’ notice of opposition.

On January 10th, members of the State Board of Education will decide between the interests of 224 parents and two school districts’ attorneys.

May the best interests of students guide their decision.