William Marvel: Co-opting Conway

I hope whoever keeps the weekly tally of Tele-Talk responses doesn’t volunteer as a ballot counter in close elections. The Sept. 28 summary on the question of whether readers would support a cooperative high school alleged that 10 people replied, half of whom said they would favor one, but a quick scan of the answers showed otherwise. Eleven responses appeared, and only four could be interpreted as overtly affirmative. Correcting those mistakes reduced the proportion of positive responses from 50 percent to 36, at least according to the math I learned in the old, overcrowded Kennett High.

Of course, the real news was how few people responded to the question at all. Seventeen months ago, 1,402 Conway voters weighed in on whether to create a cooperative school district planning committee, and 985 of them wanted to. Those 985 probably represented a pandemic-pruned version of the customary 1,100-member school lobby, consisting of staff and parents who will approve anything the school board supports, regardless of price or prudence.