Larry Lee

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Annual PDK poll shows public opinions on education

By Larry Lee Education Matters The PDK poll of public attitudes about public schools has been a steady reflection of U.S. opinion since 1969. It is the most trusted source of public opinion about K-12 education because of its rigor, depth and commitment to capturing all voices and viewpoints. And once again, the 2017 poll … Continued

December 6, 2017

A clear, crisp night in Georgiana

By Larry Lee Education Matters Editor’s Note: This piece was written on Friday, Nov. 10. Tomorrow 90,000 people will cram into Jordan-Hare stadium on the Auburn University campus to watch Auburn play the University of Georgia. It is the South’s oldest football rivalry, going back to 1892 when Auburn won 10-0. It will be a spectacle … Continued

November 13, 2017

Alabama Accountability Act: By the numbers

By Larry Lee Education Matters Now that we have several years of experience with the Alabama Accountability Act, let’s look as closely as possible at the numbers available to see what’s been done. The legislation creating AAA was passed early in 2013 under rather mysterious conditions. Basically one bill went into a conference committee and … Continued

November 1, 2017

Thank God And Greyhound — The Sentance Saga, Part 4

By Larry Lee Education Matters The Alabama Education Association has now filed suit against Sentance and Reggie Eggleston, who is in charge of the Montgomery takeover, contending that the state cannot deny the elected school board the right to hire a superintendent. Under Sentance and his “leadership team,” the work environment at the state department … Continued

October 10, 2017

Thank God And Greyhound — The Sentance Saga, Part 3

By Larry Lee Education Matters Why all the shenanigans? There is little unity of purpose among board members and certainly was no consensus going into the selection process as to what the state’s top education priorities were and what kind of person and experience were needed to get us to that point. Of the six … Continued

October 9, 2017

Thank God And Greyhound — The Sentance Saga, Part 2

By Larry Lee Education Matters Things really got funky at the state board meeting on July 12. Each board member got an envelope with an unsigned “complaint” to the state Ethics Commission alleging that Pouncey plagiarized his 2009 doctoral dissertation for Samford University, as well as getting excessive help from department employees. The Ethics Commission … Continued

October 6, 2017

Thank God and Greyhound — The Sentance Saga, Part 1

By Larry Lee Education Matters In 1970, country singer Roy Clark cranked out a little tune, Thank God and Greyhound. When I got the news on Sept. 13, that Alabama’s state school superintendent had resigned, this song came immediately to mind. And why not? Since he took office one year and one day from his … Continued

October 3, 2017

Sentance is having money problems

Larry Lee Education Matters News that the State Department of Education’s projected operating budget for next year presently has a deficit of $8,028,074 fell on board members like an anvil last week. Andy Craig is the chief money man for the Department. He revealed that at the moment, the projected budget has receipts of $30,100,000–but … Continued

August 29, 2017

Gov. Ivey playing politics with Sentance

By Larry Lee Education Matters Unfortunately, Governor Kay Ivey is now playing politics with our children. Three weeks ago she said she did not know enough about the performance of State School Chief Mike Sentance to join State Board members in evaluating him (By virtue of her office, she is President of the State Board). … Continued

August 13, 2017

Sentance & Saban

By Larry Lee Education Matters First there was Governor Robert Bentley telling a business group last September that hiring Mike Sentance as state school superintendent was “like hiring (Nick) Saban.” Of course, we now know Bentley was living in a fantasy world at that time and is the same guy who recently proclaimed himself to … Continued

August 9, 2017