Regardless of how the State Board of Education votes on January 28th, here’s what could begin January 29th to immediately turn around the Little Rock School District…

2015

1. Empower teachers and staff to report and be accountable to their principal, principals to report and be accountable to their superintendent, and only the superintendent to report and be accountable to the board or Commissioner of Education.
2. Become consistently collaborative with the Mayor of the City of Little Rock, County Judge, and President & CEO of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce.
3. Ensure consistent classroom and building management, with consequences for actions. 
4. Contract with Northwest Education Association (NWEA) for use of its Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test to determine the academic level of every student in the district.
5. Once test is administered and results received, ensure every student and his/her family has/understands student’s MAP goals and individual plan for success.
6. Reallocate district financial and human resources to ensure each student performing below grade level has the assistance he/she needs to catch up.
7. Thereafter, MAP test every student entering the district. 
8. If at end of school year, student is not performing at grade level, require summer school.
9. If at end of summer school, student is not performing at grade level, do not promote to next grade.
10. If not under State takeover, have board zones redrawn by independent demographer, and board structure of five zones, seven zones or five zones/two at-large, all permissible by State law for districts over 10% minority, determined by a vote of the people.

2015-16

1. To prepare for eventual loss of $37 Million Desegregation Settlement Agreement payment, reduce operational budget $18.5 Million; leverage $74 Million in current/future Desegregation Settlement Agreement payments for upgrade, conversion, construction of facilities.
2. Close, consolidate proximate schools which are significantly under capacity.
3. Sell, lease excess property.
4. Convert, construct secondary schools where none exist to retain, attract students back to district. 
5. Redraw attendance zones of each school, correlating proximity equity and capacity of the school.
6. For schools with capacity, provide intra-district school choice with transportation.
7. Retain, recruit effective principals at each school and empower each to retain, recruit their teachers and staff, then hold them accountable for results.
8. Create building-centric budgets, empowering principals to allocate financial resources, and hold them accountable for performance and gains of students.
9. Empower teachers as leaders of their respective classrooms, and hold them accountable for performance and gains of students.
10. Invite Teach for America to partner with district.
11. Nationally recruit talent into the district. 
12. Only allow intra-district transfers at semester.
13. Negotiate, implement intra-local agreement with North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special School Districts and open-enrollment charters (in exchange for their per-pupil transportation funding) for county-wide bus services to all public schools.
14. Negotiate, implement intra-local agreement with City of Little Rock and Pulaski County for common use facilities, playgrounds, playing fields, etc.
15. Fully implement robust digital learning.
16. Partner with University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Pulaski Technical College to offer robust concurrent credit courses at all high schools.
17. Partner with University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Pulaski Technical College and regional industries to offer concurrent credit, career-ready workforce development training leading to certification and employment.
18. Partner with University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Pulaski Technical College and Charter Management Organization(s) for district conversion charters. 
19. Shift learning from grade level progression to student-centric mastery, ensuring that every student is challenged to reach his/her full potential.
20. Once Pulaski County Special School District is declared unitary, seek consolidation into Little Rock School District south of the Arkansas River to the Pulaski County line, ceding current PCSSD footprint extending into contiguous counties to adjacent school districts in those counties.

2016-17

1. To prepare for eventual loss of $37 Million Desegregation Settlement Agreement payment, reduce operational budget $18.5 Million.

2017-18

1. Complete upgrade, conversion, construction of facilities on leverage of $74 Million in Desegregation Settlement Agreement payments.

2018-19

1. If under State takeover, operating autonomously, without State of Arkansas Desegregation Settlement Agreement payments, seek return to local governance, with board zones redrawn by independent demographer, and board structure of five zones, seven zones or five zones/two at-large, all permissible by State law for districts over 10% minority, determined by a vote of the people.

…or not.