If you grew up in Arkansas chances are you either went to a school, or knew of a neighboring district, that did not celebrate Martin Luther King Day. Some schools give students the day off, not to celebrate the great civil rights leader, but for a “Teacher work day,” or some other such nonsense. It’s shameful. The Blue Arkansas blog has compiled a list of schools that list the holiday explicitly on their calendars and those that do not.
…it is no secret that, in Arkansas, there are a great many school districts that go out of their way to avoid recognizing today for what it is. Most of us are probably well aware of at least one school that refuses to refer to Martin Luther King Day by its name, using it instead for staff development or using it as a snow day. Some don’t even go to that miserable extent, simply going about their business without even suggesting that there might be something special about the day. Most of those schools will happily acknowledge Labor Day, President’s Day, and even Columbus Day, so there really is no excuse. Hell, some even include “Deer Days” on their schedule, allowing for school to let out for deer hunting season of all the stupid things. (And we wonder why public education in this state still needs work?) For a long time, this nonsense has gone on mostly unchallenged. It’s the old Arkansas way of thinking-sweep it under the rug, don’t rock the boat. Well that’s ending today.