Why all the interest?

Dear editor:

Charter schools are a hot topic in Pulaski County, but not so much here locally. So it was surprising to see two of our local state elected officials, Sen. Alan Clark and Rep. Bruce Cozart, take such an interest in a recent legislative proposal, Senate Bill 308. Cozart was chair of the committee on the bill, and Clark serves as lead Senate sponsor.

The bill, in short, would give charter schools first right of purchase of all (statewide) school facilities that the Arkansas Department of Education deems "unused or underutilized." This generally happens when the ADE decides to close a school or facility. In the past, districts were then allowed to sell the building to a private entity, nonprofit or just the highest bidder, allowing taxpayers to recoup some or all of the money.

Under this proposed legislation, charter schools would have the right, without competitive bidding, to purchase these properties at the current assessed value.

A recent hearing was rescheduled in Cozart's committee at the last moment, outside of the normal committee time. When opponents of the legislation objected to the last minute hearing, Cozart responded with a quote that's not quite up there with "Of the people, by the people, and for the people."

Cozart told Bill Kopsky, executive director of the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, "I will tell you that if they (opponents) came and all signed up, they would get limited debate and they would not get to speak anyway."

There's democracy in action, via our Spa-elected state rep.

Now one could surmise or speculate what interests Clark and Cozart have in this proposed legislation. And I'm certainly not going to go "grassy knoll" here.

There is one interesting part of the bill, however, that states that the closed properties in question cannot be sold for two years "after the facility is listed as unused or underutilized." Which means that even if someone wants to buy the property at a fair market value, they cannot do so for two years, in which time a charter school would still retain the right to purchase it (even at possibly a lower price).

Now what happens when a public building goes unused for two years? You and I know. It falls into decay, vandalism, etc. In other words, it will need major upgrades and construction work to even bring it back up to code. Cozart owns a construction company and Clark a building supply company. Those will be state issued contracts.

Connect your own dots here, I'm not assuming anything. But if the 2-by-4 fits, well ...

Anthony Lloyd

Hot Springs