Skip to content

Eric Mackey

Education / News / State

Alabama’s charter school law has a number of problems

The Alabama charter school law is an absolute mess, filled with loopholes and nonexistent instructions that make it possible, if not likely, that the state will endure countless bad charter schools that rob taxpayers and leave Alabama school children worse off.  Those were not the words of Alabama superintendent Eric Mackey.  But you could draw … Continued
July 30, 2019

Finally, state superintendent reverses course, weighs in on Washington County charter debacle

For months, state superintendent Eric Mackey has said he has no jurisdiction over the state charter school commission. However, as we have pointed out numerous times, the charter law of 2015 clearly says, “The department shall oversee the performance and effectiveness of all authorizers established under this act.” Furthermore, the guidelines written to govern the charter … Continued
June 6, 2019

Ivey praises Senate for passing bill to replace the elected school board with appointed board

Thursday, the Alabama State Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would replace the state ’s State Board of Education and replace it with a new appointed board. Senate Bill 397 is sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston. SB397 would change Alabama’s current elected State Board of Education to a Commission appointed … Continued
May 17, 2019

Ivey supports Marsh’s school reform ending state’s elected state school board

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey delivered a letter to the State Board of Education Thursday announcing her support for a sweeping education reform proposal being filed by Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh, R-Anniston. The bill would change the state’s current elected State Board of Education to a commission appointed by the governor and confirmed by … Continued
May 10, 2019

Washington Post digs into Washington County charter fiasco

When a newspaper with the national impact of The Washington Post covers a story out of tiny Washington County, AL, you immediately know there is something serious afoot.  In this case, it is the Washington County charter fiasco that got the attention of veteran education reporter Valerie Strauss, who has worked for this newspaper for nearly 30 years. Because … Continued
May 6, 2019

Hindu leader applauds universities for embracing Yoga, urges end to ban in K-12 schools

The President of Universal Society of Hinduism, Rajen Zed commended the public universities of Alabama for offering various forms of yoga to their students. Zed urged introducing yoga in the K-12 public schools of the state. Zed called the presence of yoga in Alabama public universities “a step in the positive direction” and urged Alabama … Continued
April 30, 2019

Senate votes to end Common Core in Alabama

Thursday, the Alabama Senate voted in favor of Senate Bill 119, which would end Common Core in the Alabama public schools. For a decade, conservative activists have been telling the state to overturn the Common Core-aligned Alabama College and Career Ready Standards. For years, the leadership had thwarted efforts by Senators to pass a Common … Continued
March 22, 2019

Hiring Jason Taylor for MPS was Mike Sentance’s worst decision

Of all the blunders former state school superintendent Mike Sentance made (and there were many), none looms any larger than his decision to hire Jason Taylor to “straighten out” finances for the Montgomery school system. Taylor was the Chief Financial Officer for the Huntsville city school system early in 2017 when Sentance gave him a … Continued
October 8, 2018

The plan to kill public education in Alabama is succeeding

Put the flashlights away, Jason Taylor has been located. Maybe. The Alabama State Department of Education’s $700,000 accountant is still working for the state, just not doing much — or anything, depending on who you ask — for the Montgomery Public Schools. Instead, according to ALSDE spokesman Dr. Michael Sibley, Taylor is spending the majority … Continued
September 21, 2018

Ivey claims she’s strengthened ethics laws. She’s done the opposite.

There’s a trick that’s often used in Alabama politics — one that Kay Ivey seems to know well. This trick comes in many different forms, and is disguised under many different names, but it is always essentially the same. It’s pretending to do something while in reality doing nothing. While that basically sums up Ivey’s … Continued
July 26, 2018