[Dutchman01]

Originally Posted by kdb05f

The losses in the Delta and southern part of the state weren't at all surprising. It was expected and has actually been going on for decades.

For some reason I wasn't aware of that. I am now tho.

[hotair2]

Originally Posted by kdb05f

I don't remember what the website was, but a few weeks a go I saw some official estimates of Little Rock's population since the 2000 census going year by year. Oh one thing to point out is that Little Rock did show faster growth in this census than the previous one. Back to the estimates though. Most of Little Rock's growth was in the past 3 or 4 years. earlier in the decade it was only growing by a couple hundred per year but the last years of the decade was growing by 2000+ per year, so it seems the city is showing an upswing in the growth curve.

My guess is that the Clinton library and development and condos downtown and the River Market district has a lot to do with it. Probably people who want a more urban experience moving into the city rather than the 'burbs.

Well that is encouraging. I like the downtown area and they just had built some new condos close to downtown that sold out pretty quickly so I thought that was a good sign as well.

[thewizard16]

Most of the numbers weren't very surprising to me except for Fayetteville's population coming in under projections and Springdale's being over. The lower housing costs in Springdale are no doubt playing into their growth, as is the popularity of the Harber part of town. Little Rock's growth was pretty much as expected, and Pine Bluff's decline continued (dropping below 50,000). Most of the counties around Little Rock saw significant growth and their cities (particularly Benton and Bryant) saw huge growth while Conway and Maumelle continued growing at a brisk pace. North Little Rock's growth was enough to keep Conway from surpassing it, but I wonder what the next decade will hold for that population comparison.

[kdb05f]

If anybody is that interested here is the link I was talking about a few posts back. It's actually on the census bureau website. It has estimates for all cities over 100,000 so you have to go down a ways to get to little rock. My memory wasn't that accurate but it was on the right track.

http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2009-01.csv (broken link)

[hotair2]

Originally Posted by kdb05f

If anybody is that interested here is the link I was talking about a few posts back. It's actually on the census bureau website. It has estimates for all cities over 100,000 so you have to go down a ways to get to little rock. My memory wasn't that accurate but it was on the right track.

http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2009-01.csv (broken link)

Thanks for the cite.

[aerotive]

Originally Posted by hotair2

Well we can agree on something eventhough I am a "bona fide liberal" according to you. I am originally from Georgia and Atlanta city schools receive more money per student than any city in the state. There are very rural schools that can barely afford text books.
The funding in Georgia is completely dependent on local property tax well the rural communities do not have very much valuable property so they receive less money per student. I am not sure how Arkansas does it but i think each student should have the same allocation no matter where you live in the state.

Funding isn't equal, richer districts and districts that choose to have higher property taxes will get more money. That said the state does reallocate & provide extra funds to poorer districts to make up some of the difference. Much of this is due to a long history of school funding lawsuits.

The state also monitors school performance and ultimately has the power to change management, take over districts, and even consolidate underperforming and/or inadequate schools. Such schools are usually small and remote.

[Dutchman01]

Originally Posted by aerotive

Funding isn't equal, richer districts and districts that choose to have higher property taxes will get more money. That said the state also allocates extra funds to poorer districts to make up some of the difference.

The state also monitors school performance and ultimately has the power to change management, take over districts, and even consolidate underperforming and/or inadequate schools. Such schools are usually small and remote.

Think again. At least one of the russellville middle schools is in "school improvement" not because they did not meet state standards but because one sub-population, latinos, didn't meet state standards.

[aerotive]

Yes I'm sure you are correct about the Russellville school. But I stand by my statement that troubled/poor/inadequate/underperforming schools are _usually_ small and remote.

As you noted above, some LR schools are exceptions to the rule too.

[Dr. Foosball]

Originally Posted by aerotive

Yes I'm sure you are correct about the Russellville school. But I stand by my statement that troubled/poor/inadequate/underperforming schools are _usually_ small and remote.

As you noted above, the some LR schools are exceptions to the rule too.

Probably a direct correlation with salary and benefits. There are many small districts in Arkansas that start teachers at less than $30K a year. The big four in NWA start new teachers at over $40K a year.

[Dutchman01]

Originally Posted by aerotive

Yes I'm sure you are correct about the Russellville school. But I stand by my statement that troubled/poor/inadequate/underperforming schools are _usually_ small and remote.

As you noted above, some LR schools are exceptions to the rule too.

Some? Try whole school districts.

arkansas ed.org for information into schools for the 2009/2010 school year. The north little rock school district managed to meet safe harbor requirements if I read this properly. As for pulaski county and little rock you don't want to be in year 3 or 4 of school improvement.

Arkansas Department of Education | School Support and Programs (http://arkansased.org/programs/nclb/ayp.html - broken link)


6001 LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT School Improvement: Year 4

6002 N. LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT School Improvement: MS

6003 PULASKI CO. SPEC. SCHOOL DIST School Improvement: Year 3