UCA’s new Arkansas Public School Resource Center (APSRC) this week announced that the Walton Family Foundation will provide $4,529,770 over the next three years to assist open-enrollment charter schools and rural school districts.
The funds will be transferred to the UCA Foundation, where they will be administered to support the APSRC at UCA.
Scott Smith, executive director of the APSRC, on Wednesday shared news of the award at the first meeting of the organization’s board of directors, which includes Tom Courtway, interim president of UCA, and Kathleen Atkins, interim dean of UCA’s College of Education.
The Walton Family Foundation in May 2008 initially awarded a $426,141 grant to UCA to plan, develop and implement the APSRC.The purpose of the APSRC is to provide comprehensive services to advance and support school choice initiatives and the implementation of high quality open enrollment public charter schools in Arkansas, as well as providing a variety of support services critical to the fiscal and academic success of rural public schools in Arkansas. The APSRC’s work includes supporting school choice initiatives, implementing and expanding high quality open enrollment charter schools in Arkansas, protecting and continuing support of Arkansas public school accountability measures, and providing assistance to rural public school districts and schools committed to meeting accountability provisions of Act 35 and Act 1467, the Omnibus Education Act.
The APSRC also will design and provide support services for both open enrollment public charter schools and rural public school districts to establish and maintain high quality schools measured by both fiscal and academic performance.
