A friend reports a telephone poll last night concerning Little Rock School District issues — the school board, a possible property tax increase vote, Superintendent Dexter Suggs.

A tax increase will be required for the construction plans under consideration — many of which are vital to the district’s soundness, beginning with a promised middle school in western Little Rock and replacement of McClellan High School.

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Positive community feelings about LRSD? Seems like a longshot. Many with kids still in school in the district are satisfied. But not all. And a great number either have abandoned the district, never tried it to begin with or, even more likely, are older residents in the constricted part of the city served by the district and are past the years of district involvement. It’s a problematic formula for a tax increase, particularly without a demonstration of vigorous administrative cost reductions to prepare for loss of state desegregation funding.

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