We’ve seen the problems of state takeovers here in Arkansas, where the state has been running the Little Rock School District since 2015. As is currently the case in Houston, Little Rock had a number of schools with stubbornly low academic performance and a poorly functioning school board. State officials were confident that they could do better, but five years into state control very little has changed. The district continues to lag state averages on English Language Arts and Math achievement tests and high school graduation rates by roughly the same amount as it did before the takeover.

Turning around failing schools was the justification for the state takeover, but, of the eight schools currently receiving a failing grade, only one has met the state’s goals for academic growth. Without any meaningful improvement, state officials are left without a clear exit strategy as community anger is boiling over. At a recent town hall meeting, members of the state board of education were shouted down by a crowd of more than 200 people, including leading community representatives, with slogans like “taxation without representation,” “no confidence,” and “free the LRSD.”