Educational Issues & Controversies

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Act 76 of 1983
aka: Teacher Testing Law
Act 76 of 1983 was a law passed by the Arkansas General Assembly ma...
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Amendment 33
Amendment 33 was the first of three constitutional amendments ratified by voters in the decade after the begin...
African-American woman wearing dark colored dress with double strain shell necklace
Daisy Lee Gatson Bates (1914?–1999)
Daisy Lee Gatson Bates was a mentor to the Little Rock Nine, the African American students who integrated Cent...
Older African American man and woman at dinner table with younger African American boys and girls
Melba Pattillo Beals (1941–)
Melba Pattillo Beals made history as a member of the Little Rock Nine, the nine African American students invo...
Desegregation of Bentonville Schools
Bentonville (Benton County) was one of the earliest school districts in Arkansas to admit African American stu...
White woman formally dressed smiling in earrings pearl necklace brooch ribbon bracelet holding gloves fur
Vivion Mercer Lenon Brewer (1900–1991)
Vivion Mercer Lenon Brewer is best known for helping to found the Women’s Emergency Committee to Open Our Sc...
Burrow v. Pocahontas School District
Arkansas has struggled for much of its history to fund the education of its children—particularly during the...
poster titled "Conspiracy at Little Rock to Negro-ize Travelers Baseball Team" with image of letter written by segregationist Amis Guthridge to Arkansas Travelers manager Ray Winder
Capital Citizens' Council (CCC)
The Capital Citizens’ Council (CCC) was one of many similar organizations established throughout the South t...
white man in helmet with gun faces group of African American teens
Desegregation of Central High School
aka: Crisis at Central High
aka: Little Rock Desegregation Crisis
In its 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision,...
Portrait of white man in suit and tie
Desegregation of Charleston Schools
Much has been written about the Little Rock School District desegregation in 1957. However, the Charleston Pub...
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Charter Schools
Charter schools are public schools that operate on a contract, or charter, which allows them increased operati...
Committee to Retain Our Segregated Schools (CROSS)
Formed in 1959 to bolster the segregationist cause in the aftermath of the desegregation of Central High Schoo...
White man in suit and tie seated at desk
Desegregation of Des Arc Schools
The 1966 desegregation of schools at Des Arc (Prairie County) was accomplished under the leadership of Arkansa...
White man in suit and tie standing before wooden bookshelves
Doe v. Human
Doe v. Human was a 1989 federal court case involving a challenge to the Gravette (Benton County) school distri...
African American man and woman standing with cars and buildings behind them
Earle Race Riot of 1970
The Earle Race Riot of 1970 broke out in the late evening of September 10 and continued into the early hours o...
Angry white crowd surrounding young African-American girl sitting on bench with white woman talking to her
Elizabeth Ann Eckford (1941–)
Elizabeth Ann Eckford made history as a member of the Little Rock Nine, the nine African American students who...
Pair of two-story wood frame buildings with bridge between
Education Reform
Education reform, the process of improving public education through changes in public policy, has been slow an...
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Epperson v. Arkansas
Epperson v. Arkansas, a case argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, challenged the right of a state to outlaw t...
Two old white men with glasses analyzing bits of pottery in artifact storage room
Teaching of Evolution
Few educational issues have caused as much vehement debate in Arkansas as the teaching of evolutionary theory...
Desegregation of Fayetteville Schools
Between 1954 and 1965, Fayetteville (Washington County) underwent the gradual integration of all primary and s...
Young African-American man in graduation robe with cap
Ernest Gideon Green (1941–)
Ernest Gideon Green made history as the only senior of the Little Rock Nine, the nine African-American student...
Desegregation of Hot Springs Schools
Hot Springs (Garland County), a tourist town, had one of the largest school districts in Arkansas at the time ...
Group school photo with matching white girls and one black girl on bleachers below flag
Desegregation of Hoxie Schools
During the summer and autumn of 1955, proponents and opponents of school integration across America were watch...
Black man in woven suit jacket pattern tie by doorway profile view
Silas Herbert Hunt (1922–1949)
Silas Herbert Hunt was a veteran of World War II and a pioneer in the integration of higher education in Arkan...
Jim DuPree v. Alma School District No. 30
Jim DuPree et al. v. Alma School District No. 30 et al. was a lawsuit that triggered twenty-five years of liti...
Group of African Americans standing in a church
Gloria Cecelia Ray Karlmark (1942–)
Gloria Cecelia Ray Karlmark made history as a member of the Little Rock Nine, the nine African-American studen...
White man in suit and striped tie on "Mike Huckabee Governor" campaign card with Arkansas flag behind him
Lake View School District No. 25 v. Huckabee
The court case Lake View School District No. 25 v. Huckabee examined the structure for the funding of Arkansas...
white man in helmet with gun faces group of African American teens
Carlotta Walls LaNier (1942–)
Carlotta Walls LaNier made history as the youngest member of the Little Rock Nine, the nine African-American s...
White woman in green dress with arms crossed
LEARNS Act
aka: Act 237 of 2023
The LEARNS Act (Act 237 of 2023) was the signature piece of legisla...
Mixed group of people reflected as their younger selves in pool with multistory building behind them with text above that
Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine were the nine African American students involved in the desegregation of Little Rock Cent...
Bust of young white boy on engraved stone monument with trees and other monuments in the background
Lost Cause Myth of the Confederacy
The Lost Cause myth consists of a set of ideas about the history of the South that developed following the Ame...
Two teachers walking down an empty school hallway with lockers and a water fountain
Lost Year
“The Lost Year” refers to the 1958–59 school year in Little Rock (Pulaski County), when all the city’s...