Ali Noland can speak from experience about the LRSD’s unforgiving political culture. “When we’re running off candidates within the first 48 hours, before anyone has talked about substantive issues or debated policy, that’s a problem,” she said.
Ali Noland
Posted inArkansas Blog
This summer reading list fights fascism
The books your state legislature doesn’t want in your child’s hands.
Posted inArkansas Blog
A veteran teacher turned state senator weighs in on LEARNS in this week’s ‘Fair Assessment’ podcast
The fourth podcast episode focused on public education in Arkansas is out, featuring state Sen. Linda Chesterfield of Little Rock. Chesterfield talks about her 30-year career as a classroom teacher, the value of teachers unions, her frustration with the legislative process used to pass the LEARNS Act and the real-world implications of repealing the Arkansas Teacher Fair Dismissal Act.
Posted inArkansas Blog
New ‘Fair Assessment’ podcast: Grappe-ling with the Arkansas LEARNS Act
An interview with Steve Grappe, executive director of Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students (CAPES). Grappe is working with public education advocates across the state to put a repeal of the LEARNS Act on the ballot.
Posted inArkansas Blog
Fair Assessment podcast episode 2: Unpacking the playbook to undermine public education
Vilifying teachers, banning books and saddling schools with the task of feeding and providing health care for poor students is all part of a campaign to stick it to public education. Experts Gwen Faulkenberry and Ali Noland talk it out.
Posted inArkansas Blog
Here’s your first episode of ‘Fair Assessment,’ a podcast about public education in Arkansas
In this first episode of Fair Assessment, co-hosts Ali Noland, an attorney and school-board member in Little Rock, and Gwen Faulkenberry, a veteran classroom teacher in rural Arkansas, introduce themselves to listeners, explain their motivation for creating an Arkansas education podcast, and start a discussion about some of the big themes that have emerged in public-education policy and politics recently.
Posted inArkansas Blog
White men in the Arkansas legislature think women and minorities have too much opportunity
A proposed bill would create a state mandate for all government employers, agencies, school districts, colleges and universities to pretend that disparities based on race and sex do not exist.
Posted inArkansas Blog
Educator Barbara Hall’s superpower: honesty and kindness
“Students cannot learn if they feel invisible, disrespected or unsafe,” Hall said. “When we discuss any classroom issue, we pass it through the lens of safety. For example, if we have problems with unkindness or disrespect, we talk about how it contributes to people feeling unsafe, and we revisit our commitment to making school a safe place for everyone.”
Posted inArkansas Blog
Loads of questions demand answers before Arkansas LEARNS goes up for a vote
Legal and logistical questions abound on the governor’s universal voucher scheme and wholesale reworking of Arkansas’s education system. Here are just a few of the questions lawmakers need to answer before they cast their votes.
Posted inArkansas Blog
Legislative Black Caucus nonplussed by white senator’s attempt to end affirmative action
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Jonesboro) was defiant in response to lawmakers’ personal stories about how affirmative-action programs had made a difference in their lives. Sullivan asked the Black Caucus why, if ending discrimination was so important to them, they had not already filed a similar bill.