Schulz and Associates and University of Arkansas OEP pitch 14‑part plan for Arkansas adequacy study

James Schulz, managing member of Schulz and Associates, and Josh McGee of the University of Arkansas’ Office for Education Policy told the joint Education Committee they assembled a bipartisan research team and a 14‑project analysis plan to respond to the legislature’s adequacy RFP. "Our goal here really today is ... to serve the state of Arkansas," Schulz said as he opened the presentation and described team roles and planned methods.

The consultants said the work would include literature reviews, multiple quantitative approaches (including value‑added growth analysis), interviews with high‑performing districts, focus groups across regions of the state, district surveys to fill data gaps, reviews of agency documents and geospatial mapping and visualizations. Schulz said the proposal breaks the RFP into manageable project units with staged deliverables and a Gantt chart that targets deliverables within about a year.

Committee members repeatedly pressed the presenters on three broad concerns: whether the newly formed LLC and assembled team had sufficient prior experience executing a statewide engagement across roughly 200 districts; how the consultants propose to engage schools in high‑poverty or rural districts; and the extent and source of funding for the Office for Education Policy (OEP). In response, Schulz pointed to research experience across multiple states and said he constructed the team specifically because no single person could credibly run the full study alone; McGee and other named advisers were presented as the technical leads for several workstreams.

On stakeholder engagement, Schulz said the team plans "one round of focus groups" across regions with multiple follow‑up surveys and targeted interviews in selected high‑performing districts. He said interviews, surveys and the educator convenings would inform other projects rather than being isolated, one‑off inputs.

Several lawmakers asked about OEP’s funding and possible outside influence. McGee said OEP is not supported by state general revenue and instead raises funds from philanthropy, contracts and grants; he did not provide a complete donor list during the hearing. Multiple members asked whether any vendor representatives had contacted legislators during the procurement window; Schulz denied directing anyone to lobby committee members and said any third‑party contact was not under his auspices.

The Schulz team emphasized its research background, prior work on school finance and pensions, and a desire to produce actionable recommendations. The presentation concluded with the consultants offering to answer further questions and provide additional detail in the proposal appendices.

Next steps: the committee heard a competing bid from Augenblick, Polich & Associates working with WestEd later in the same session; the vendor selection was deferred to formal motions and votes later in the meeting.