Rockefeller believed education was vital to the advancement of Arkansas and its people. One of the first things he did when he arrived in the state was to set up a model school program in Morrilton, personally financing the construction of a new school and hiring new administrators and teachers. in 1967, a grant from the Ford Foundation allowed Rockefeller to set up a governor's office called the Office of Educational Resources Planning. That office was so successful that the grant as renewed for another two years in 1969.
In October 1967, Rockefeller called the state's first ever Governor's Conference on Education. Rockefeller advocated better pay for teachers and university professors to help recruit and retain the best and brightest in Arkansas. He supported the consolidation of school districts into more practical and cost efficient units. And he brought the University of Arkansas at Little Rock into the University of Arkansas system, giving the state's capital city a much-needed seat of higher education to act as a catalyst for economic, technological, cultural, and artistic growth.
Research materials for activities in the area of education are located in Record Groups, I, II, III, IV and Record Group VII:
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- Materials on the model school Morrilton are included in Record Group I, Personal, as well as photographic images Record Group VII.
- Record Group III contains files regarding grants, conferences, and other endeavors to improve education.
- Record Group VII, the audio files in particular, document his views on education at numerous events.