Citizens of Little Rock who are active in public education have laid the foundation for significant and overdue reforms. A state takeover would undermine grassroots efforts by local people to fix local problems. A takeover diminishes the voices of local people and communicates that the people furthest from our local problems are better equipped to fix them. This perspective stands in stark contrast to the democratic self-governance that many of us champion.

A state takeover of the entire district also sets the precedent that the state will take over other districts with schools in academic distress because it cannot simply ignore districts in similar circumstances. Thus, a state takeover of districts with academically distressed schools is ultimately an unsustainable and inefficient solution. We invite citizens of Little Rock and our friends from across the state to ask the State Board of Education to vote against a state takeover of the Little Rock School District.