Remember and Honor: Honoring all who served

Submitted by Brenda Cunningham and Kathy Hagler

Members of the James K. Polk Chapter, NSDAR, participated in two separate events during the month of May, to celebrate Memorial Day.

The first was Saturday, May 13, at the Old Dallas Cemetery. With the permission of the Old Dallas Cemetery Association, nine members of JKP and six guests, placed flags on veterans’ graves. These veterans fought during the Civil War, WWI, WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

It was through the dedicated work of Shirly Manning and the Polk County Genealogical Society that lead the DAR to this cemetery and the eventual “adoption” of the cemetery for honor- ing our veterans.

While there, the members were “introduced” to Civil War veteran, Napoleon Bonaparte ‘Pole’ McPhetridge. He was born on Oct. 22, 1847, in Tazewell County, Virginia. Pole was the oldest of five children and received a good education.

At the age of 15, Pole left school and joined the Confederacy, contrary to the views of his father, who favored the Union.

Pole was wounded four times, one of which crippled him for life. He took part in many battles and was held captive as a prisoner of war in various locations, catching smallpox at one location. Some records list Pole as Col. Pole McPhetridge, but it’s not certain if this was his rank or a nickname, as he was only 18 years old by this time.

Publications of the time state that Pole was one of the leading citizens of the Dallas community. Having passed the bar in 1875, he built up a rather large practice and was considered one of the foremost criminal lawyers of Western Arkansas.

In 1888, he was elected to the senate from the 22nd District and served with distinction for four years.

Col. Pole McPhetridge died on Nov. 16, 1928, at the age of 81.

Missing Man Tables

On May 28, JKP members participated in setting up the “Missing Man Tables “ in seven local restaurants.

The “Missing Man Table” pays tribute to those service members who did not return from their tour of duty.

Each table is covered with a white table cloth, to symbolize the pure intentions of service members who responded to the country’s call to arms; a single red rose in a vase symbolizes the blood that service members shed in sacrifice to freedom; the yellow ribbon tied to the vase symbolizes remembrance of those not there; salt sprinkled on the plate symbolizes the tears shed by family and loved ones; the inverted glass represents the fact that the missing and fallen cannot partake; the empty chair represents the absence of the missing and fallen; and the Bible and flag represent duty to God and country.

One of this year’s tables has a very special flag. The burial presentation flag of an unknown soldier was rescued from a dumpster by the employees of the Polk County Developmental Center in 2018. It was donated to the James K. Polk Chapter, NSDAR, and proudly used in the Missing Man Table at La Villa Mexican restaurant. They, along with Little Italy, Chicollos, The Branding Iron, The Chopping Block, New China and Papa’s Mexican Cafe, have graciously allowed these tables to be placed in prominent areas of their businesses, where the public may see them.

Please take the time to thank them for this service.

Our state has a deep-rooted history of patriotism and sacrifice. In World War II, nearly 10% of our population at the time served our country in the various branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. More than 3,500 were killed as a result of combat.

Arkansans continued to answer the call to serve. 461 Arkansans lost their lives in the Korean War. 592 died in Vietnam. We lost 4 of our own in Desert Storm. More than 90 Arkansans died while serving in either Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation New Dawn.

On Memorial Day, we will pay tribute to these heroes, whose courageous spirit continues to inspire generations. Regardless of our differences, Memorial Day unites us in a common purpose, to honor the memory of our fallen and express gratitude for the liberty they fought to protect.

We can honor their memory by gathering at parades and memorials and by sharing their stories their stories of bravery.

We can also recognize their sacrifice by taking care of their comrades who served. The Arkansas General Assembly has worked to support military families and veterans year round. In 2017, the General Assembly exempted military retirement benefits from state income tax. This year, we expanded school choice options for military families and passed legislation designed to remove more red-tape from the occupational licensing process for military members and their families. We also passed legislation seeking to have veteran disability benefits excluded as income for eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by directing DHS to seek a federal waiver.

In addition, we established June 12 as Women Veterans Day in Arkansas.

Our work to improve the lives of our military families and veterans will continue.

The Gold Star Family Memorial Monument is located directly behind our State Capitol and reminds us daily of the Arkansas families who sacrificed more than most. Our hearts are with them this weekend. May we all live lives worthy of their sacrifice.

As soon as the 2023 legislative session adjourned, the Senate and House Committees on Education began work on school funding in preparation for the 2025 session.

Every two years the committees issue an adequacy report that sets a level of state funding of public schools that will comply with the state Constitution and state Supreme Court orders in school funding cases.

The adequacy report issued by the Education Committees are the starting point for the entire legislature’s financial decisions on school funding. The committees determine funding levels for numerous categories of education expenditures, such as teacher and principal salaries, ratios of teachers to students, health insurance and other benefits, transportation and instructional materials.

Those categories are set out in a matrix. The bottom line of the matrix is the total foundation funding per student. This year it is $7,413 per student.

In addition to foundation funding there are a few categories of extra funding, also calculated on a per student basis.

For example, school districts receive an additional $366 for each student who does not speak English as their native language. Districts get bonus funding if they have high percentages of students from low-income families.

There is a category in the funding matrix for special education teachers. There is another funding category for schools that have an above-average number of special education students.

The Senate and House Education Committees will begin in earnest preparing an adequacy report in January of 2024. It will take much of 2024 to finalize, and will be the basis for the funding matrix approved by legislators during the 2025 regular session.

In October the committees will examine different funding models, such as the one used in Tennessee and models developed by the Education Commission of the States.

The chair of the Senate Education Committee said that she expected no big decisions to be made, but it would be helpful for Arkansas legislators to know about the funding models in other states.

During the 2023 session, the House of Representatives passed HB 1689 to change the school funding act. However, it failed in the Senate by a vote of 12-to-14.

Supporters of the bill said that the current funding model may be outdated, and that small schools are not receiving enough state aid. The major elements of the current model are about 20 years old and were approved by the legislature in response to state Supreme Court rulings in the Lake View school funding case.

Lake View was a small, rural district in eastern Arkansas that sued the state over school funding. It went through the courts for ten years, and Lake View won.

It was a landmark case that made clear it is a constitutional mandate for the state to provide an adequate and equitable education for every child in Arkansas.

The legislature has the constitutional duty to appropriate state funds, so ultimately it is the duty of legislators to ensure that the state complies with the Constitution and with state Supreme Court orders in the Lake View case.