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EDUCATION MATTERS By Larry Lee  Having swung twice and missed, the governor and 140 members of the legislature are down to their last strike in trying to come up with a General Fund budget before the next fiscal year rolls around on October 1.  Right now it is mostly a blame game in Montgomery with … Continued
August 17, 2015

Thank God and Greyhound

EDUCATION MATTERS By Larry Lee  It has now been 45 years since country singer Roy Clark came across the airwaves with Thank God and Greyhound She’s Gone.  But the song’s title came immediately to mind recently when the Alabama legislature packed their bags and rode off into the sunset bringing down the curtain on the … Continued
July 9, 2015

Failing Students with AAA

EDUCATION MATTERS By Larry Lee  New information from the Department of Revenue shows at least $4 million that should have gone to the Education Trust Fund in 2014 went instead, to pay tuition for students already enrolled in private schools.   While the law was intended to help “failing schools” and their students, more than … Continued
June 25, 2015

Accountability Smoke and Mirrors

EDUCATION MATTERS By Larry Lee  A new summary of activity in 2014 under the Alabama Accountability Act offers more evidence that the promise the legislation would help students in poorly-performing schools was more smoke and mirrors than anything else.  The summary is posted on the Alabama Department of Revenue website. Nor does it support the … Continued
June 11, 2015

Teachers do that

EDUCATION MATTERS By Larry Lee  In all the great commotion that is a major part of public education these days (such as bloggers and writers like me who feel compelled to support public schools instead of demonize them, legions of bureaucrats tucked in their cubbyholes staring all day at a computer screen, administrators who scurry … Continued
May 28, 2015

Democracy Under Attack

EDUCATION MATTERS By Larry Lee  Slowly but surely our legislative leadership is nibbling away at the very foundation of how Alabama government has worked for nearly 200 years. Like this great country itself, Alabama is a democracy. By definition democracy is “a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people … Continued
May 20, 2015

Education Money Runs Out before Need

EDUCATION MATTERS By Larry Lee  Debbie Deavours has spent 33 years in the Fayette County school system, the last eight as principal at Berry Elementary in the little town of Berry with its 1,250 people.  Debbie has 300 students in pre-K-6.  Some 65 percent of whom get free and reduced lunches. And as is often … Continued
May 14, 2015

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

EDUCATION MATTERS By Larry Lee  It was just a little snippet of news.  Just a few hundred words.  And while few Alabamians  probably saw it, it should have made headlines on the front page of every state newspaper and been the lead story on every TV news cast. Because it was another glaring example of … Continued
April 30, 2015

Making Sausage with the Alabama Accountability Act

EDUCATION MATTERS By Larry Lee We have all been told that one should never watch either legislation or sausage being made. Having grown up long ago on a south Alabama farm, I took part in more than a few “hog killins” and know all about making sausage. I’ve also witnessed legislation being birthed in more … Continued
April 16, 2015