The Little Rock School District has long benefitted from inter-district school choice. Consider the following enrollment data over the past fourteen years:
| Year | Total Enrollment | Non-resident School Choice Enrollment | Resident Enrollment | Percentage of Choice Enrollment |
| 2004 | 24,424 | 79 | 24,345 | .32% |
| 2005 | 25,095 | 72 | 25,023 | .28% |
| 2006 | 25,500 | 44 | 25,456 | .17% |
| 2007 | 25,738 | 49 | 25,689 | .17% |
| 2008 | 24,660 | 560 | 24,100 | 2.27% |
| 2009 | 24,380 | 1,569 | 22,811 | 6.4% |
| 2010 | 24,226 | 1,840 | 22,386 | 7.59% |
| 2011 | 24,049 | 1,900 | 22,149 | 7.9% |
| 2012 | 23,594 | 1,813 | 21,781 | 7.68% |
| 2013 | 23,676 | 1,725 | 21,951 | 7.28% |
| 2014 | 23,363 | 181 | 23,182 | .77% |
| 2015 | 23,164 | 175 | 22,989 | .75% |
| 2016 | 22,759 | 192 | 22,567 | .84% |
| 2017 | 22,338 | 21 | 22,317 | .1% |
What happened in 2008? Majority-to-Minority transfers.
What happened in 2014? The end of Majority-to-Minority transfers, a stipulation in the Desegregation Settlement Agreement imposed by then-Pulaski County Special School District Superintendent Jerry Guess, his attorneys at Allen P. Roberts, P.A., and Joshua Intervenors Attorney John Walker coupled with limitation on PCSSD legal transfers to 30 per year.
I was at the Little Rock School Board meeting when members, led by Jody Carreiro, were shocked to learn from their attorney, Chris Heller, what was about to happen to the district’s enrollment. But it was too late. They had already signed.
Cut to 2017. The fact is, even with the growing number of open-enrollment public charter seats in the Little Rock School District’s footprint, had Guess/Walker/Roberts not ended Majority-to-Minority transfers, the district’s enrollment would essentially be at 24,000, comparable to 2004 and 2008, the first full year of Majority-to-Minority. And understand, they only ended it in 2014 because the state would no longer be footing the bill after 2018. In other words, it was never about equity of access. It was all about the money.
For those long benefiting from the politics of division, it’s easy to cry wolf over charters instead of holding those most responsible for the district’s declining enrollment accountable. And that includes the thankfully removed PCSSD superintendent and his attorneys, along with the attorney who constantly sues LRSD for inequity he helped create and perpetuate.
Also ignored in the discussion is the impact of contiguous school districts on the county’s public school district enrollment. Those districts have grown at double digit rates because over 100,000 people wake up every day in a county other than Pulaski and drive into the county to work. The status quo calls it “white flight,” but one cannot fly from where one never lived.
And speaking of “White Flight,” it has effectively ended under the State’s leadership, as the district has only lost 193 students over the past three years and the percentage of White students has remained the same. Meanwhile, Africa-American enrollment has dropped 1,331. And yet, there is no discussion of “Black Flight.”
The retention, growth and attraction of families in Little Rock should be the City’s and Chamber’s greatest priority. And that begins and ends with public safety and public education.
Public / Home School Enrollment
| LR Census | LRSD | PCSSD | NLRSD | JNPSD | Cabot | Conway | Bryant | Benton | LISA | eStem | Other Charters | South of River Private | LRSD Home School | |
| 2004-05 | 185,021 | 24,424 | 17,961 | 9,110 | 8,048 | 8,442 | 6,598 | 4,254 | 163 | 0 | 679 | |||
| 2005-06 | 185,868 | 25,095 (+671) | 17,943 (-18) | 9,368 (+258) | 8,488 (+440) | 8,618 (+176) | 6,851 (+253) | 4,409 (+155) | 299 (+136) | 0 | 596 | |||
| 2006-07 | 187,052 | 25,500 (+405) | 17,756 (-187) | 9,334 (-34) | 8,912 (+424) | 8,774 (+156) | 6,862 (+11) | 4,591 (+182) | 359 (+60) | 0 | 548 | |||
| 2007-08 | 188,156 | 25,738 (+238) | 17,395 (-361) | 8,974 (-360) | 9,226 (+314) | 9,002 (+228) | 7,163 (+301) | 4,506 (-85) | 411 (+52) | 0 | 562 | |||
| 2008-09 | 189,971 | 24,660 (-1,079) | 17,410 (-15) | 8,970 (-4) | 9,533 (+307) | 9,144 (+142) | 7,383 (+220) | 4,527 (+21) | 433 (+22) | 755 | 562 | |||
| 2009-10 | 191,993 | 24,380 (-280) | 17,126 (-284) | 9,119 (+149) | 9,877 (+344) | 9,083 (-61) | 7,669 (+286) | 4,587 (+60) | 465 (+32) | 931 (+176) | 555 | |||
| 2010-11 | 193,967 | 24,226 (-154) | 16,828 (-298) | 8,862 (-257) | 10,052 (+175) | 9,256 (+173) | 7,949 (+280) | 4,666 (+79) | 476 (+11) | 1,231 (+300) | 611 | |||
| 2011-12 | 195,206 | 24,049 (-177) | 16,959 (+131) | 8,545 (-317) | 10,115 (+63) | 9,432 (+176) | 8,291 (+342) | 4,618 (-48) | 599 (+123) | 1,457 (+226) | 564 | |||
| 2012-13 | 196,511 | 23,594 (-455) | 17,245 (+286) | 8,610 (+65) | 10,167 (+52) | 9,630 (+192) | 8,620 (+329) | 4,768 (+150) | 792 (+193) | 1,485 (+28) | 610 | |||
| 2013-14 | 197,230 | 23,676 (-82) | 17,060 (-185) | 8,553 (-57) | 10,172 (+5) | 9,733 (+103) | 8,862 (+242) | 4,922 (+154) | 799 (+7) | 1,462 (-23) | 566 | |||
| 2014-15 | 197,698 | 23,363 (-313) | 16,592 (-468) | 8,576 (+22) | 10,128 (-44) | 9,771 (+38) | 9,017 (+155) | 5,000 (+78) | 797 (-2) | 1,462 (0) | 590 | |||
| 2015-16 | 198,195 | 23,164 (-199) | 16,562 (-30) | 8,413 (-163) | 10,058 (-70) | 9,734 (-37) | 8,969 (-48) | 5,045 (+45) | 825 (+28) | 1,462 (0) | 644 | |||
| 2016-17 | 198,541 | 22,759 (-405) | 12,199 | 8,405 (-8) | 3,927 | 10,290 (+232) | 9,920 (+186) | 9,134 (+165) | 5,108 (+63) | 1,261 (+436) | 1,462 (0) | NA | ||
| 2017-18 | NA | 22,338 (-421) | 12,101 (-88) | 8,427 (+22) | 4,306 (+79) | 10,472 (+182) | 10,001 (+81) | 9,121 (-13) | 5,286 (+178) | 1,340 (+79) | 1,968 (+506) | NA | ||
| 14 Year Totals | +7.3% | -2,086 (-8.5%) | 2004-2016 -1,399 (-7.8%)2016-2018 -88 (-.7%) | -683 (-7.5%) | +79 (+2%) | +2,424 (+30%) | +1,559 (+18.5%) | +2,523 (+38%) | +1,032 (+24%) | +1,340 | +1,968 | +1,388 | 8,184 | -35 (-5.2%) |
Analysis
Over a fourteen-year period, the Little Rock School District (LRSD) “lost” a total of 2,086 students (-8.5%). In the same period, the Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD) lost 1,399 (-7.8%) and 88 (-.7%), North Little Rock (NLRSD) lost 683 (-7.5%), and Jacksonville/North Pulaski (JNPSD) gained 79 (+2%).
Meanwhile, neighboring districts in contiguous counties all experienced double digit percentage growth:
- Bryant (+2,523, +38%)
- Cabot (+2,424, +30%)
- Conway (+1,559, +18.5%)
- Benton (+1,032, +24%)
- JNPSD (+77, +2%) (2016-17 – 2017-18)
- NLRSD (-683, -7.5%)
- PCSSD (-1,399, -7.8% – 2004-05 – 2015-17; -88, -.7% – 2016-17 – 2017-18)
- LRSD (-2,086, -8.5%)
The combined enrollment of the Bryant, Cabot, Conway and Benton School Districts was 34,880 in 2017. The combined enrollment of the Little Rock, North Little Rock (NLRSD), Pulaski County Special and Jacksonville/North Pulaski (JNPSD) School Districts was 47,172.
However, Bryant, Cabot, Conway and Benton grew by 7,538 students (+28%), while LRSD, NLRSD, PCSSD and JNPSD lost 4,323 students (-8.4%). It is estimated that over 100,000 people who work in Pulaski County live in another county.
The first open-enrollment public charter in the footprint opened in 2004. Total charter enrollment in Little Rock is now 4,696. As of 2016-17, private school enrollment in Pulaski County south of the Arkansas River was 8,184. The latest data on home school in the Little Rock School District is 644 in 2014-15.
The biggest drop in enrollment in LRSD (-1,079) came between the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years. That is also the period when Superintendent Roy Brooks was fired by board members loyal to Joshua Intervenors Attorney John Walker.
In Pulaski County, 68% of students are in traditional public schools, 18.5% are in private/independent schools, 10.5% are in open-enrollment public charter schools, and 3% are home schooled.
State foundation funding (approximately $6,700 per student) follows students to their public school district or charter school of choice. School districts, however, retain 100% of local property tax revenue dedicated to public schools.
Students who move from or never move to a school district, utilize Inter-district School Choice, attend private/independent schools, or are home schooled have the same fiscal impact on their resident school districts. Those who attend their resident school district’s schools then choose an open-enrollment public charter school have a lessened fiscal impact because their resident district retains their respective State foundation funding for 1.5 years following the students’ departure from the district.
In other words, the districts retain 100% of the State (and local) funding without the expense of educating the student.