Jacob Oliva, public ed villain, slashes co-op budget

The man prides himself in his ability to destroy public education

Arkansas Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva seems to be on a mission to redefine the term “educational reform” with his latest antics.

In a move that has educators shaking their heads in disbelief, Oliva has decided to take a hacksaw to Arkansas’ education cooperative budget.

In a recent budget hearing, Oliva made it abundantly clear that he’s not pleased with the return on investment from these cooperatives — despite the fact that the c-op offers everything from professional development for teachers to assistance with classroom issues.

Instead of addressing the root problems facing public ed in the Natural State, Oliva’s solution is to slash the co-op’s budget. Because apparently, if something isn’t up to Oliva’s liking, the best course of action is to just kill it.

According to Oliva, the state has been “just giving money” to these cooperatives, which he feels is being “watered down” and not used as intended.

Oliva’s big plan? Reallocate funds to support initiatives in literacy, science, and math. Yes, let’s reinvent the wheel and create something from scratch instead of funding the co-op, which already supports students and teachers in literacy, science, and math.

In response to concerns raised by Rep. Denise Garner about the reallocation of funds, Oliva assured everyone that ADE would still be supporting these initiatives, just not in the way they’ve always been supported. Cool.

Who knew that the secret to fixing education was simply to throw less money at it (unless it’s going to private-school families) and hope for the best? Kudos, Jacob, for showing us all what true innovation looks like.