Campus Talk: KATV Education Town Hall Planned At Central High

Editor’s note: Each Tuesday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Campus Talk,” a recap and deep-dive into education topics in our email newsletter, which you can sign up to receive daily for free here.

KATV EDUCATION TOWN HALL PLANNED
Talk Business & Politics content partner KATV Ch. 7 is planning an Education Town Hall on Tuesday night, April 7, at 7 p.m. at historic Central High School in Little Rock. The one-hour forum is open to the public and will focus on a variety of hot topics in the education realm, including Common Core, student performance and outcomes, the state takeover of financially and academically distressed districts, and the performance of private and public charter schools.

The “State of Education” town hall will also feature several high-profile education leaders from across Arkansas, including new Education Commissioner Johnny Key and Gov. Asa Hutchinson. The town hall will be broadcast live on KATV sub-channel 7.2 and streamed live at www.katv.com.

In addition, Talk Business & Politics in conjunction with Hendrix College and Impact Management Group will be revealing a new round of polling results tied to education in Arkansas.

AGRI SCHOOLS ADVANCE
Lawmakers approved a bill to create a pilot program for K-12 agriculture schools in the state. Senate Bill 1037, sponsored by Sen. Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch, is now awaiting the governor’s signature.

Under the measure, a mayor, county judge or a school board could apply for the agri school. The school would have to partner with an institution of higher education to “expand program offerings and provide opportunities for dual enrollment and concurrent credit, including industry-based certifications upon graduation from an agriculture high school.”

HUTCHINSON ANNOUNCES MEMBERS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE TASK FORCE
Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced the members of a new Computer Science Task Force on Friday. The purpose of the group will be to research and recommend computer science and technology courses and standards; study the computer science and technology needs of the state; and recommend strategies to meet the anticipated computer science and technology workforce needs of the state. Find out about the 15 members who were named at this link.

ARKANSAS OPENING BIDS FOR STATE SCHOOL BROADBAND
Arkansas has opened a bid invitation to create a new broadband network for schools, with work scheduled to begin in July. An invitation for bid covering seven years was opened March 9 asking providers for pricing for broadband services, according to a letter sent to school superintendents by Mark Myers, director of the Department of Information Systems and the state’s chief technology officer.