Public Schools / Overall
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12/10/2009
Unless you are wealthy enough to afford for your children to attend Pulaski Academy at the rate of $15 - $17,000 per year, do not send your child to Little Rock Schools. My husband and I are the average middle class making $85,000 per year and cannot afford that. In the public schools, the overall test scores are inadequate. All of the schools in the district are on "watch" status or "alarm" status in regards to Benchmark testing. My 12 year old son attends Little Rock Public Schools. Since we moved here 3 years ago from Oklahoma, he can speak Ebonics as well as he can English. His grammar has deteriorated. He is in all advanced classes in order for the work to be equivalent to what he was doing 3 years ago in Oklahoma!! Oh and did I mention they base where you go to school on your race????? I was asked if I and my son were Caucasion on the phone so they could determine where he would go to school. If you are white in Little Rock, be prepared for you child to be bussed 30 miles away to go to a school where they "need to balance the numbers between the races" even if you live 5 miles from a school. And when they say balance ---- my son knows or knows of about 10 other white children in his school.
Overall, I have found that Little Rock is still all about what race you are. Blacks and whites alike are on edge just waiting for a race riot. There are race riots at my son's school and on his bus. Little Rock does not seem to realize it is 2010. I am originally from Dallas -- a big melting pot. I was born and raised in Texas. I honestly never thought about what race I was or you are. We all lived cohesively. Here though, it's a different world. It is hateful, shameful, disgraceful and most of all very sad.
Cyndi | Little Rock, AR