Dr. Tommy Bice

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter Another one of Governor Robert Bentley’s bright ideas to help bring the State into the “digital-age” is crumbling, as the time and attendance software known as eSTART was abandoned by the Department of Human Resources (DHR). A recent memo from the DHR alerted staff that, ‘the use of e-START, … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—An Attorney General’s Opinion issued July 29, confirms the State Personnel Board (SPB) and the State Personnel Department (SPD) have the specific authority to “promulgate the manner by which State agencies are to maintain time and leave records.” The legal definition of promulgating means, “to formally proclaim or declare … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—After reporting on the troubled eSTART time and attendance system, the Alabama Political Reporter received an email from a Director at the Department of Finance saying, “eSTART is the best thing to happen to state government in years. Ziegler is clueless and needs to fire his staff if they … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter Business Council of Alabama CEO, Billy Canary, and former State Superintendent of Education and current leader of BCA’s education arm, Joe Morton, recently co-authored an Op-Ed in which they pose questions they want answered by the State Superintendent candidates. Canary and Morton write, “no way are we trying to … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—In June, Rep. Terri Collins (R-Decatur) emailed members of the State Board of Education to encourage them to keep interim Superintendent Philip Cleveland, “a few more months to work on efficiency and effectiveness of the department and the programs.” But what Collins calls “efficiency and effectiveness of the department … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—Last week, Dr. Robert E. Witt, Chancellor of The University of Alabama System, announced the formation of Alabama Unites for Education (AUE), an association building “a strong grassroots coalition” to “protect school funding, support a quality education system for all in Alabama, and to avoid any further cuts to … Continued

By Beth Clayton Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY–The Alabama State Department of Education Executive Board will meet at 9:30 a.m. in the Gordon Persons Building. The Executive Board’s work session will immediately follow the board meeting. The first item on the agenda for the Executive Board meeting will be the election of the Vice President and … Continued

By Larry Lee Education Matters It was exciting to read recently that one of the GOP leaders of the Alabama House said, “It is time to take bold new steps and leave the broken status quo behind.”  I could not agree more. Obviously Dr. Tommy Bice, state superintendent of education, feels the same way.  In … Continued