School districts face a changing climate

Here's a portion of an editorial that appears in today's Baxter Bulletin in Mountain Home via the Benton Courier:

The state has become noticeably less tolerant with school districts that are fiscally or academically troubled, consolidation is no longer a four-letter word, and requests for millage increases appear to be meeting increased resistance from voters.

We've also seen two millage increase proposals fail here in Texarkana, albeit for different reasons than the three recent Saline County elections. Other local elections across the state this year have passed. Arkadelphia passed an economic development sales and use tax in June. Russellville and Atkins also approved sales tax measures earlier this year.