Dr. Arthur Tucker has been an assistant superintendent of the Texarkana (Ark.) Public Schools since 2004. The enrollment of the district is 44,000 students.
Prior to that, he served as high school principal in Warren, middle school principal in North Little Rock, elementary principal in Nashville and principal at Saratoga School district. He began his career in education as a teacher in Saratoga in 1982.
He holds a Ph.D. in education and secondary administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, a specialist degree in administration and instructional leadership from the University of Central Arkansas and a masters in educational administration from East Texas State University.
Tucker said he wanted to be superintendent of Blytheville because it "is one of the best systems in eastern Arkansas."
He also cited the district's award-winning literacy programs as another attraction. "It's award-winning literacy program at the elementary level, literacy labs at the secondary levels, and innovative technology sets the district apart from many other districts across the state," he said.
"These attributes are hallmarks of a district striving to provide a learning environment for students going into the workforce or post-high school education," he said.
The candidate said he would like to join with the educators in the district and community to "continue to develop a system to education students for the 21st Century job market."
Among the skills he listed as being relevant are his experience as a school principal at all levels. He was recognized as the state's Secondary Principal of the Year in 2002, he said.
"I have served as a board member and president of Arkansas Association of Curriculum Development." He has also been a board member for the State's Secondary Principals Association, and has served on the Leadership Council, Critical Issues, and the Nominations Committee for Association and Supervision and Curriculum Development, International.
"I offer the knowledge and expertise gained from these experiences to the Blytheville School District," he said.
"Additionally, having been raised in the Arkansas Delta, it is time for me to use my experiences as an educator to give back to an area that has given so much to so many," he said.