Still in this battle

SOME weeks ago, dozens of families in southern Arkansas were given the happy news: They could transfer their kids out of failing school districts into other public schools down the road. They could participate in the same program that freed other Arkansas families.

A three-judge panel out of St. Louis said the Hope, Camden, Junction City and Lafayette County school districts had to participate in the School Choice Act, passed by We the People through our elected representatives in the General Assembly.

The Act says if schools are failing, families in those schools can go elsewhere. But the school districts, knowing that state money follows the students, have been fighting that Act from day one. Or at least trying to be excused from it.

There was a story deep inside the Sunday paper that said a couple of these districts aren’t through fighting yet. They want the entire U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis to review the case, not just that three-judge panel.

This may have been expected. But it’s not necessarily good for students in southern Arkansas who would like a real shot at an education. You know, so they can become productive citizens with bright futures.

This latest news is a reminder that Arkansas families are still in this battle. And it might not be over until another court—the one in Washington, D.C., which makes news on occasion—has its own say.