Posted by http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/117239544572970.xml&coll=2 – Corts’ problems with Board of Education said to have begun almost immediately after he assumed interim chancellor’s position.
http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/117239530172970.xml&coll=2 – The Birmingham News calls for legislators to put aside partisan differences to enact needed legislation in special session.
http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/jkennedy.ssf?/base/opinion/117239500972970.xml&coll=2 – Joey Kennedy’s commentary on the decision by James Tucker, plaintiff counsel in long-running child welfare case, to appeal dismissal decision.
http://www.al.com/opinion/press-register/index.ssf?/base/opinion/117239913090890.xml&coll=3 - Press-Register calls for legislature to increase restrictions on young drivers in effort to improve state’s driving safety.
http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/117239903791130.xml&coll=1 – State Medicaid Agency accused of “money laundering” in new contract for lobbyist.
http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/070225/request.shtml – Decatur area lawmakers back proposals in special session.
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20070225/NEWS/702250339/1013/TL06 – “Alabama Exposure,” Dana Beyerle’s weekly political roundup for the NYTimes regional papers.
After the jump there are two stories from The Anniston Star with the headlines “2 Top Education Issues Up for Debate in Legislature” and “Riley Proposal Faces Obstacles.”
FROM TODAY’S ANNISTON STAR:
2 top education issues up for debate in Legislature
Star Staff Writer
When the state Legislature opens its regular session March 6, lawmakers will have 30 working days to address the economic, health, environmental, education and other issues facing the state.
Two high-profile education-related bills — one on money for school construction, another on teacher pay raises — already have garnered attention. Some other local, state and regional groups want the Legislature to address their concerns, too.
In Calhoun County, the Chamber of Commerce education committee approved a legislative agenda that includes asking lawmakers to raise the pay for principals and to allocate money for more support staff.
Eric Mackey, Jacksonville City Schools superintendent, chairs the committee of business and education professionals from around the county. He said those initiatives would cost about $38 million in a statewide $6 billion education budget.
The state pays for principals at 1.33 times the teacher salary, but Mackey said that’s only about 60 percent of what schools must pay to draw quality leaders. The rest must be paid for locally.
“For one thing, they’re on 12-month contracts,” he said at a committee meeting. “And with all the accountability pressures put on them, they have to spend more time on the job.”
The committee’s agenda also calls for updated standards for funding support staff, including counselors and assistant principals.
Every five years, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the body in charge of accrediting all Alabama schools, approves new standards for how many staff members a school should get based on its enrollment.
Mackey said the state’s 1995 law on school funding gives the Legislature five years to catch up with the SACS formulas and retain accreditation. So, funds to meet the 2005 requirements won’t have to come until 2010.
Mackey said superintendents would like to see the state erase that lag time.
“(Accreditation) is the only way to guarantee a college will accept your graduates,” Mackey said. “You will have changes in quality from one school to the next, but you still have minimum standards. It creates a threshold of competency.”
Most of the discrepancies between the 2000 and 2005 formulas would provide more assistant principals and librarians to elementary schools.
For example, the state will not fund one elementary assistant principal’s salary unless the school has 880 students. The 2005 SACS standards lower the minimum to 500 students.
“With counselors, the job has expanded too, with all the testing,” Mackey said. “Kids need more help now. They have to put the time in.”
On higher education, the Legislature will decide on a $1.9 billion budget request from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.
One line item in the budget could potentially help the redevelopment efforts at McClellan.
The request includes $50 million to establish cooperation between universities and industries for economic development.
Gregory Fitch, ACHE’s executive director, said the Alabama Consolidated Research Initiative and Technology Effort could help bring industries to the state by performing research those businesses need.
“We want to brainstorm some concepts, bring the two together seamlessly,” he said. “It’s not to wire a campus or put a refrigerator in every dorm room.”
Fitch offered one specific example at the robotic program at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. He said the school could discuss curriculum with NASA and other engineers in the area to develop workers who can create and operate the robots they need.
The state’s colleges and universities could also work with the auto industry on alternative fuels, Fitch said.
The money could help Jacksonville State University partner with businesses in creating a potential research park at McClellan, he said.
Fitch said much of the $50 million would provide matching funds for other grants to keep the initiative going when technology and research needs change.
ACHE’s overall request calls for $47.8 million for JSU and $28.5 million for Gadsden State Community College. According to the Southern Regional Education Board, Alabama gave higher education the biggest funding boost in the region last year.
This year, SREB will let Alabama and other states know about ways to increase graduation rates and make sure students truly are ready for college or career once they get their diploma.
In Georgia, lawmakers provided a “graduation coach” to every public high school to meet with students and their families and develop career and education plans.
Florida, South Carolina and Mississippi have plans in place this year to have eighth-grade students select a career emphasis, like a major.
“It isn’t as restrictive as some people are making it sound,” said Alan Richard, SREB spokesman. “It’s just a way to choose electives. If you’re interested in computers, you’ll take a computer class instead of home ec.”
This year, Louisiana will consider issuing a zero on test scores for students who have dropped out, making meeting goals set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act more difficult.
“Many states actually end up rewarding schools for having high dropout rates,” Richard said. “We have to raise student achievement and graduation rates, both. We aren’t necessarily recommending these as best practices, but we think it’s a reasonable start.”
Riley proposal faces obstacles
Star Capitol Correspondent
MONTGOMERY — This year’s legislative session could bring another sally against one of the state’s sales taxes, and another demonstration of the inequities in the state’s tax code.
Gov. Bob Riley’s Plan 2010 includes a proposal to lift the state sales tax off over-the-counter medications. The proposal is similar to a bill State Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston, introduced in last year’s session.
The proposed change would be relatively inexpensive — the Legislative Fiscal Office estimates it would cost the state $5.7 million out of 2007 revenues — but could be difficult to get through the legislature. Marsh’s proposal did not get out of committee last year.
“It’s the same typical suspects,” Marsh said. “Dr. (Paul) Hubbert, (secretary of the Alabama Education Association) isn’t going to like it, so it’s a matter of whether it can get to the committee and get out.”
Hubbert said the people of Alabama had chosen to fund schools with sales taxes and that his teachers’ union had a natural interest in preventing any reduction in sales tax revenue.
“Until we have some way of making up the loss, we can’t afford to take hits,” Hubbert said. “We have to take a consistent stand against all of them. Frankly, I wish we didn’t have to have a sales tax, but we do.”
Some say the proposal shows the problems with the way Alabama taxes its residents. The state’s 1901 Constitution puts caps on property taxes and centralizes power in the state capitol, making income and sales taxes the chief sources of the state’s income.
Montgomery funds most education needs out of the $6 billion Education Trust Fund. Education officials have argued that changes to the ETF would adversely affect schools.
Sales taxes tend to fall disproportionately on the poor, and until last year, the state taxed incomes beginning at $4,600 a year, putting Alabama in the bottom of states for tax equity.
With the centralization of government in Montgomery, entities need to protect their earmarked funds. That can make it those getting the money reluctant to part with it, said Susan Hamill, a law professor at the University of Alabama.
“It breeds everyone earmarking their share so they don’t get left out in the cold,” said Hamill, who published a study of Alabama’s tax code in 2002. “When you add the horrendous accountability issues we have, we have a mess. This is more complicated than fixing the inequities.”
Taking the state sales tax off any item would not affect local sales taxes, and the Legislature will probably not tackle other items, such as the sales tax on groceries, which would cost close to $300 million.
Marsh remains hopeful about getting the state sales tax on over-the-counter medications removed. He cited the popularity of the state’s first sales tax holiday last August.
“People were very happy about that,” he said. “Any time people are getting a break, they like it.”
Kimble Forrister, state coordinator of Alabama Arise, which lobbies the Legislature on low-income issues, said this measure might provide more relief than the sales tax holiday.
“In many cases, a sales tax holiday is just an invitation for retailers not to offer a sale because they know thousands of consumers will be in for the weekend,” he said. “This one removes the tax year round. So it’s a real benefit.”
Hamill said real sales tax reform requires shifts of the tax burden. She said Riley’s proposal is a step in the right direction, but she could see the reason for fighting to keep the sales tax when the poor in the state pay a higher proportion of their salaries than the wealthy.
“We’re already underfunded in this state,” she said. “We are strapped. If you’re talking about lifting tax burden on the poor, you’re going to have to look elsewhere.”
But getting those reforms will require small steps, Forrister said, noting voters’ rejection of Amendment 1 in 2003.
“It’s probably wise to consider them one or two at a time,” he said. “The more things you package together, the more opposition you can ignite.”
Legislative Dispatch
Purple Dot Connection
2010 Big List
2010 Senate Elections
2010 House Elections
Press Releases
Our tutors and teachers are under paid and over worked.