Arkansas

Did Anti-Obama Feeling Boost Arkansas Ban On Gay Adoption?

Joe Mathews — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:50:00 -0500

The New York Times seems to think so. In this piece, the Times says that an Arkansas initiative to ban adoption by unmarried couples (a measure clearly targeted at gays) passed because white Arkansas Democrats didn't like Obama and stayed home, thus hurting the measure. The evidence of that is hardly clear. Turnout appears to have been down among white Democrats, but it's far from clear that such Democrats who stayed at home would have opposed the ban. It's common to link the results of candidate races to the results of initiative elections, but the correlation is not strong. In California, some are blaming the victory of Prop 8 on socially conservative African Americans who turned out for Obama but also supported a ban on same-sex marriage. Maybe. But the margin in that race is such -- and the percentage of black voters is small enough -- that the gay marriage ban might well have succeeded in spite of any turnout effect. The margin in Arkansas was even wider on the adoption measure.

When an initiative outcome goes against you, it's common to blame factors outside your control. This sort of excuse-making is natural after heartbreaking defeats, such as the Prop 8 victory (a defeat for the cause of marriage equality in California) and and the triumph of this Arkansas measure (a defeat for the rights of gay couples and families, and for the prospects of unwanted children). But while it's easier said than done, advocates for gay rights and adoption need to realize that the loss is their own, avoid blaming other factors, and instead look for new ways to organize and to reshape campaign strategies so they can win again in the future.

Lessons from Arkansas

Sara Mead — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:43:00 -0400

A few weeks ago I traveled to Arkansas, where I had an opportunity to learn more about the state's early education system and meet some of the people who play a critical role in implementing, overseeing, and supporting pre-k programs in Arkansas. Arkansas has a high-quality pre-k program that is producing positive results for children, and the state agencies that operate the program have also done important work to align standards and expectations in pre-k across different types of pre-k providers and with the public kindergarten programs children attend after pre-k. Here are a few lessons from Arkansas' experience:

1. Put quality in place up front: Arkansas has good pre-k quality and outcomes because the state put strong pre-k standards, and funding to support them, in place in 2003 when it enacted the Arkansas Better Chance for School Success state pre-k program. The program's design grew out of the recommendations of a 2000 Task Force that reviewed the evidence, defined what a quality pre-k program would look like, and costed out those quality recommendations. Today ABC programs operate 7.5 hours a day, require teachers to have a bachelor's degree in early childhood with P-4 certification, and meet other important quality standards. The one area where Arkansas compromised on quality--allowing some teachers in non-public school settings with multiple classrooms to teach with less than a bachelor's degree--has proven difficult to change, however. The lesson here: It's easier to get pre-k quality right from the start than it is to try to improve quality once a program has already been implemented.

2. Put quality in place first, then work towards scale: In 2004-05, the first year after Arkansas passed Arkansas Better Chance for School Success legislation, the state enrolled only 6 percent of 4-year-olds and 2 percent of 3-year-olds in pre-k. Today it's on track to provide high-quality pre-k (either through ABC or Head Start) to all 3- and 4-year-olds from families with incomes below 200% of poverty--about half of children in the state. By starting out small, getting quality right, and building over time, Arkansas is now able to deliver high-quality to a significant percentage of its children--a better approach than states that start out big but with low-quality.

3. Build on what you already have in place: Arkansas' pre-k program built on assets that were already in place in the state. For example, it uses the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale (ECERS), which the state had already been using to measure quality in early childhood settings. Similarly, in the late 1990s Arkansas put in place a strong system of state academic standards in the early elementary grades, and the standards and curriculum used in ABC pre-k classrooms are aligned with those standards. States seeking to expand or improve quality in pre-k programs should identify the assets they already have in place and leverage those assets to support quality pre-k.

4. Relationships and collaboration at the state level matter: Arkansas has been able to build a diverse delivery pre-k program that maintains high quality across diverse providers in large part because collaborative relationships exist between relevant state level agencies and officials. The Department of Education, the Division of Child Care and Early Education within the Department of Human Services, and the Arkansas Head Start State Collaboration Office have all worked together to improve quality and alignment across diverse providers. Building collaborative relationships at the state level is essential to create a culture of collaboration on early eduction within the state.

Heading to Arkansas

Sara Mead — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:36:00 -0400

I'm traveling to Arkansas today, where I'm going to be learning more about the state's excellent pre-k system and also speaking at the University of Arkansas. Arkansas is kind of a sleeper state on early education issues: It doesn't get a ton of national attention, but it's got some really good stuff going on and is a national leader in a number of ways.

First, Arkansas' state pre-k programs, Arkansas Better Chance and Arkansas Better Chance for School Success (ABC), have some of the strongest quality standards in the country. A recent study that observed the quality of teacher-student interactions and environmental factors in ABC classrooms found that 70 percent of ABC classrooms are of "good to excellent" quality--a finding that compares very favorably to research on pre-k classroom quality in other states and nationally. ABC programs also meet 9 out of 10 program quality standards identified by the National Institute for Early Education Research for state pre-k programs. The only reason the states doesn't get a full 10 is that it allows some pre-k teachers in multi-classroom sites to work without a bachelor's degree (but a lead teacher at each multi-classroom site must have a bachelor's degree, and 94 percent of all ABC teachers have a bachelor's degree), and the state is taking steps to ensure all teachers have a bachelor's degree in the near future.

Equally important, the Arkansas Division of Child Care and Early Education, which administers the ABC programs, and the state Department of Education have worked to ensure that standards and curriculum for pre-k programs are aligned with those used in kindergarten programs children enter following pre-k. Arkansas utilizes a diverse provider system, including public schools, Head Start centers, private child care, and educational cooperatives, to deliver ABC pre-k, but the state has worked to ensure quality across all types of providers, and to ensure that programs offered by all providers are aligned with kindergarten programs in the public schools.

The results of these efforts are clear: A recent study by the National Institute for Early Education Research found that ABC students make vocabulary gains that are 31 percent greater than those of non-ABC students in a control group, math gains that are 37 percent greater than those of the control group, and gains in print awareness that were 116 percent greater than those for the control group. Not too shabby.

Arkansas legislators have seen these results and responded by investing to expand funding for the ABC programs, so that they can serve more students. In 2007 the legislature and governor increased ABC funding for fiscal year 2008 to $111 million , enough to serve all 3- and 4-year-olds from families with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty line--roughly half of Arkansas 3- and 4-year-olds. Arkansas is a national leader in recognizing the value of pre-k for 3-year-olds, as well as 4-year-olds: currently, it ranks 4th among states in the percent of 3-year-olds it serves, and recent expansions could raise its standing there even further.

Arkansas' experience provides a valuable example of what states can accomplish when they're serious about pre-k quality and do the hard work of aligning quality and educational standards across diverse settings and between pre-k and K-12 education. The state's experience also illustrates that alignment can take place in a system with diverse providers. Finally, Arkansas models the wisdom of a slow but steady approach, starting with a relatively small but high-quality program in the early 1990s, and growing over time while maintaining quality.

Arkansas Initiative To Ban Adoption By Gay Couples Appears To Fall Short Of Sigs

Joe Mathews — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:00:00 -0400

This is why the rule of thumb is that you need to get nearly twice the required number of valid signatures to make sure your measure is on the ballot. Sponsors of an Arkansas initiative to prevent gays from adopting or serving as foster parents collected a little bit more than 61,000 signatures required. But a good validity rate in signature gathering is 70 percent, so it's highly likely they don't have enough signatures to qualify. The Associated Press reports that the initiative's backers are already preparing to try again with a similar measure.

Weekend Round Up: Arkansas Language, Angry Cops, Challenge to NYT Colorado Coverage

Joe Mathews — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:03:00 -0400

STRIKE TWO: Arkansas's attorney general, for the second time, has rejected the language of a ballot initiative filed to deny public benefits to unauthorized immigrants. The a.g. has said the language is ambiguous and that initiative sponsors need to hire an attorney; he suggested that he could substitute language himself, but after being criticized for his first rejection of the measure, he decided not to.

THESE COPS ARE MAD: Police officers in Monrovia, Calif are locked in a contract fight, and they've decided to use the ballot initiative process to help. They're circulating petitions on two local initiatives: one that would mandate they are paid at least the average salary of other local police departments, and another to prevent other city officials from making more than their counterparts in nearby municipalities. Also, they have posted billboards around town that read: "You're Approaching Monrovia. Higher Violent Crime. Fewer Officers Patrolling. Thank the City Manager and City Council."

WAS NYT RIGHT ON COLORADO CIRCULATORS? A libertarian institute says an April 2 New York Times report on complaints about signature gathering Colorado are overblown. He also raises questions about the reporter the NYT has on the story--questions that may have some validity (though it would be nice if the post's author could spell the reporter's name right).

MISSOURI ANTI-GAMBLING MEASURE has the signatures. Turn-in was Friday, according to this report.

AT LEAST ONE COLORADO MEASURE DOESN'T MAKE THE BALLOT: An initiative to put term limits on judges fails to get the signatures.

ARIZONA PRESERVATION: Here's a look at an Arizona ballot initiative would preserve hundreds of thousands of acres of undeveloped land.

CONSERVATIVE DELUSIONS: The National Review weighs in with a piece praising the doomed effort to convince Californians to enshrine a gay marriage ban in the state constituion. There's a lot of nonsense here about how difficult the signature gathering process was. Here's a counter political analysis: this initiative is likely to spark a backlash that will accelerate the legalization of same sex marriage in California.

MISSOURI STEM CELL RESEARCH: An appeals court approved the rewriting part of a constitutional amendment designed to limit the state's stem cell search program, which was approved by voters two years ago.

Wednesday Round Up: $10 Minimum in Eureka?

Joe Mathews — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:43:00 -0400

ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE MEASURE HEADED FOR CALIFORNIA BALLOT: Or so its supporters say. This tracks though with information first reported here over the weekend that the initiative, at $2 per signature, had made the ballot. This is in spite of a well-organized blocking campaign by opponents. One wonders, however, why backers are spending their money. Some polls suggest that Californian is close to having a majority of citizens who support same-sex marriage, and the Republican governor has vowed to fight this.

$10 PER HOUR IN EUREKA: Signature gathering is about to begin on a new minimum wage ballot initiative that would guarantee $10 per hour to anyone working in the city of Eureka on California's northern coast.

MOMENTUM FOR COLORADO RIGHT TO WORK: That's according to its supporters, who are lining up endorsements. Business groups are backing it, but they should be wary. A frontal attack on labor is likely to unite the state's unions and turn out to be a setback for business interests. Exhibit A: California, the year 2005.

MICHIGAN HEALTH: Health care groups are getting behind a Michigan ballot initiative that would enshrine health insurance as a right in the state constitution.

BUT IN ARIZONA. Supporters of a similar health care ballot initiative are giving up. The sponsors blame John McCain for supposely suppressing fundraising for progressive causes in Arizona. Or something. It might be more accurate to blame Barack Obama; progressive donors may be thinking that a Democratic president would tackle health care nationally, and thus are saving their bucks for that fight.

ANTI ABORTION MEASURES:: The Wall Street Journal has a summary of anti-abortion ballot initiatives, focusing on the difference in approach between pro-life advocates who seek to put restrictions on abortion and others who prefer "personhood" initiatives that grant embryos the rights of human beings in an effort to ban abortion all together.

WORKING THE REFEREES: Sponsors of anti-illegal immigration initiative in Arkansas are accusing the attorney general of not playing fair. The a.g. blocked their first attempt at an initiative.

A WATER WAR IN UTAH: Residents of a Utah county want a referendum as a way to stop a state water pipeline. The pipeline would divert Colorado River water to support development in several counties. Look for more of these kinds of measures as the Western drought deepens.

Weekend Round Up: Maryland, My Maryland

Joe Mathews — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:27:00 -0400

A busy, busy day for blockbuster democracy... 10 items follow.

ARKANSAS RE-FILING: After the attorney general rejected the first version, an initiative to require proof of citizenship or legal status to receive public benefits has been refiled by its supporters. This measure appears headed for the November ballot. It creats a political dilemma in particular for Democrats, who continue to have a hold on Arkansas politics that they've lost in other Southern states. It also could complicate the efforts of Democratic presidential candidates, who would be almost certain to oppose it, to win a state that may well be in play in a Democratic year.

COLORADO HISTORY LESSON: The writer David Sirota goes deep -- very deep -- in explaining the history behind the current labor-business imbroglio that appears headed to the ballot.in Colorado. All the way to the Ludlow Massacre (he name-checks my Los Angeles Times colleague Scott Martelle's, whose book about that slaughter, Blood Passion, is an instant classic of Western history). Sirota sees Gov. Bill Ritter's efforts to find a compromise and head off ballot measures in a very dark, anti-union way. That may not be fair, but the piece is worth reading.

GATHERING YOUR SIGS BEFORE THEY'RE...News from the teachers' union vs. casino battles in Nevada: the Las Vegas Sands and its chairman Sheldon Adelson are employing petition circulators to gather signatures on three initiatives before they're cleared the courts, according to the Las Vegas Sun. This shows that Adelson, who is the third richest man in America according to some reports, has money to burn because if a court were to change the measure in the slightest, any signatures gathered would be worthless and the Sands would have to start over. The Sands initiatives appear designed to counter a teachers' union initiative that would raise the state gaming tax to generate more funds for education.

FROM THE RIGHT, A LOOK AT ANTI-AFFIRMATIVE ACTION MEASURES: City Journal takes a look at the four Ward Connerly-backed measures on state ballots this fall.

ATTEMPT TO BLOCK TRANSGENDERED REFERENDUM: Friend of the blog Ann Marimow reports in the Washington Post on legal manuevering to stop a referendum of a law establishing more rights for the transgendered in Montgomery County, Maryland.

MORE FREE STATE NASTINESS. The campaing for slots referendum in Maryland -- its governor and legislature put the measure on the ballot to produce new revenues to balance the budget -- is underway, and Gov. Martin O'Malley is already taking swipes at his opponents.

PRAISE FOR POLICY OF DELAY BEFORE ENDORSING INITIAITIVES. The city council in Yakima, Wash., sees so many local ballot measures being filed that it has adopted a policy of not making endorsements until they qualify for the ballot. That's a good policy anywhere, given the number of measures that are filed merely to make a point, provide the basis of a mailer, or achieve some kind of leverage in a dispute.

HOUSTON COMPANY TRIES TO STOP OREGON REFERENDUM: The plot gets thicker in the ballot battle over a new Liquefied Natural Gas terminal on the Columbia River. The Houston natural gas company has gone to court in an attempt to head off the referendum. This has the potential to be one of the most closely watched local ballot measure fights in the country.

THE PLEASANT HILLS OF PLEASANTON: Residents there have submitted signatures on a local initiative to limit development in hillside areas of that California city. It's yet another effort to decide land use and development questions at the ballot.

OAKLAND COUNCIL DOESN'T CARE FOR NEW YOUTH BALLOT INITIATIVE: The council extended funding for youth programs but doesn't like "government by initiative" and opposes new initiative.

WEDNESDAY ROUND-UP: There Will Be Blood

Joe Mathews — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:57:00 -0400

PAGING DANIEL PLAINVIEW: In California, Assembly Democrats are moving forward with a plan to establish a state severance tax on oil to fund education. It might not pass the legislature -- the Golden State requires a two-thirds vote to raise taxes but it could end up on the ballot. And the proposal demonstrates where, with oil companies reporting record profits and states struggling to balance their budgets, legislators will look for new revenues.

The best evidence of this is in Arkansas, where politicians of both parties are competing to raise the severance tax. Gov. Mike Beebe is using the threat of a ballot initiative -- his aides say he is drafting one -- to demand that the severance tax on natural gas be raised. He wants the funds used to fix state highways. (Under severance taxes, states typically tax the market value of natural gas or oil at the time of extraction).

The governor's initiative could compete with a similar measure that former Republican gubernatorial candidate Sheffield Nelson hopes to put before voters this November. Nelson's proposal would increase the state's severance tax to 7 percent of natural gas's market value at the time of extraction. In Nelson's proposal, the money would go to highways, county and city aid and higher education.

A TOUGH JOB FOR A SHERIFF: Marijuana legalization is a cause that has been advanced by ballot measures, mostly in local communities. Perhaps the most far reaching such initiative came in 2000, when voters in Mendocino County, Calif, adopted a measure legitimizing pot posession for personal use. This has made the county a magnet for marijuana growers and users. Now there's a measure to repeal the earlier measure. The local sheriff has the difficult job of staying neutral in the fight.

DO INITIATIVES OPPOSING SAME SEX MARRIAGE AND CIVIL UNIONS DRIVE PEOPLE TO THE POLLS?

Some studies suggest that the tactic, credited with giving President Bush a turnout boost in 2004, doesn't really work. GLAAD puts it together here.

FROM OUR FOREIGN BUREAS: Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez lost his constitutional referendum last year. Now his ally, Bolivian president Evo Morales, is attempting something similar. He wants a referendum on a new constitution May 4, but the courts have stepped in to stop him. Here's the Reuters story. is trying something similar.

ANOTHER PENNSYLVANIA VOTE: As the country focuses on the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania, voters in Erie are debating a local measure banning so-called "bottle clubs" from the township. The target: a club called Velvet, which may or may not be a bottle club, but definitely has scantily clad women. Those who ran a petition drive to get the question on the ballot call Velvet a bottle club, but the club's attorney disagrees.