By STEVE BRAWNER
I had the honor Wednesday of driving a school bus full of Bryant High School seniors to graduation practice at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium. Police officers escorted us through town. Families held signs and cheered their graduates as we drove down Reynolds Road. It’s a nice tradition.
While they rehearsed, I corresponded by text with a Wynne High School classmate about our next reunion – our 40th. Life goes by fast.
The Class of ’26 had a different school experience than my Class of ’87.
For one, schools today emphasize workforce preparation and technical skills in ways schools in 1987 did not. College was the highest goal when I was a student; other paths were less valued.
Some of those Bryant High graduates likely had attended classes at the Saline County Career Technical Campus. Along with students from other nearby communities, they learned skills like auto mechanics and welding. They can still go to college, but they are graduating ready to earn a much better living than the $6 hourly wage I took home as a young reporter. Other communities might not have a $43.5 million facility like Saline County’s, but opportunities like this exist across Arkansas.
Technology is another way schools have changed in the past 39 years. My parents bought my first computer my high school freshman year, when I also took a typing class using electric typewriters. We had never heard of the internet. A computer was a useful tool, but it provided information only if you purchased a software program like an encyclopedia.
These days, many schools are “one to one,” meaning every student has a school-provided digital device. These are far more useful than my old Coleco Adam computer. At the same time, technology’s darker side has become too obvious to ignore, which is why lawmakers last year passed Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ “Bell to Bell, No Cell” law prohibiting students from using their cell phones.
Technology has made other changes to education. Schools and state education officials are using data to monitor students’ progress throughout the year so educators can intervene quickly and keep students from falling behind. Some parents can know their child’s score on the end-of-the-year ATLAS exam the night of the test, while the results help schools make plans over the summer.
Is it all working? It’s too soon to tell. Students still aren’t performing where they need to be. On last year’s exams, only 35.6% of public school third-graders scored proficient or advanced in reading. Third grade reading proficiency is generally considered the marker for future school success. We’ll learn this year’s statewide results this summer.
Another change for this year’s class was the absence of some of their fellow students whose families chose other options. Next year, Sanders’ LEARNS Act will provide families $7,208 in state dollars per child for private and homeschooling expenses. More than 44,000 students participated this year – at a cost of more than $300 million – and higher numbers have already applied this year.
There were no private schools in Wynne when I was growing up, and homeschooling wasn’t legal in Arkansas until 1985.
Today’s graduating seniors have had two other experiences my WHS Class of ’87 would not have imagined.
One was COVID. The pandemic disrupted the sixth and seventh grade years of today’s graduating seniors, sending them home for remote learning that proved less effective than classroom instruction. Schools have spent billions of dollars trying to help students recover from the lost learning.
The other was school violence, which in 1987 meant getting picked on at school. Campuses back then were open. Then shootings began occurring at places like the Westside Middle School near Jonesboro in 1998 and Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999. Today’s campuses have access-controlled doors and often are staffed by at least one school resource officer.
One thing the Class of ’26 has in common with graduates from past years: Their lives will be in front of them when they walk across that stage. They’ll have joy and sadness in their futures. They’ll succeed and fail. They’ll raise children of their own. And tomorrow is not promised to them or to any of us. Twenty-eight of my classmates have passed away – six in the past five years.
Before those graduates know it, they’ll be planning their 40-year class reunion while a new generation of 18-year-olds prepares to walk across the stage. Some of them might someday even drive the bus that takes the graduates to their rehearsal.
Life goes by fast, after all. We wish them all the best.
Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 24 news outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.