Larry Lee

News

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

Larry Lee

October 9, 2017

Opinion

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

Larry Lee

October 3, 2017

Opinion

Alabama’s education circus never stops

By Josh Moon Alabama Political Reporter The Alabama State Department of Education circus keeps chugging along. As department staff and superintendent Michael Sentance gear up for an all-important board meeting next week – yet another meeting that could bring an end to Sentance’s tenure – ALSDE has been dealing with fires on a number of … Continued

Josh Moon

September 7, 2017

Opinion

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

Larry Lee

August 29, 2017

Opinion

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

Larry Lee

August 9, 2017

Opinion

In praise of doing what’s right

By Larry Lee Education Matters Ain’t no way 11 months ago I would ever write what I am now writing. That’s because I had just watched state school board member Stephanie Bell raise her hand on Aug. 11 as one of five votes to hire Mike Sentance as State Superintendent. I thought then–and still do—it was one … Continued

Larry Lee

July 31, 2017

Opinion

State Department ignores State School Board directive

By Larry Lee Education Matters As the Montgomery County school “intervention” has tediously unfolded with little to see but mounting expenses for high-priced consultants and well-paid administrators, the State School Board finally threw up its hands on June 8, 2017, and said “Enough is enough.” So they passed a resolution saying all spending for Montgomery … Continued

Larry Lee

July 17, 2017

Opinion

Did the race for Lt. Governor end before it began?

By Larry Lee Education Matters Candidates for election in 2018 have now turned in their first monthly financial report to the Secretary of State. This covers the month of June. These include the three announced Republican candidates for Lt. Governor–Will Ainsworth, Mary Scott Hunter and Rusty Glover. The differences in the reports are astounding and do not … Continued

Larry Lee

July 10, 2017

Opinion

What did he know and when did he know it?

Forty-four years ago this month, the nation was watching the US Senate hearings about Watergate unfold. This was before cable news, the internet, telephones that took pictures, etc. So we were not bombarded with 24/7 news from Washington as we are today, thank goodness. A key player in the hearings was Tennessee senator Howard Baker. … Continued

Larry Lee

June 27, 2017

Sentance keeping final report of smear campaign investigation locked up

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter A final report on the scandal surrounding a smear campaign launched to torpedo the candidacy of Dr. Craig Pouncey, for State Superintendent of the Department of Education is hidden away in the office of the man who ultimately landed the job. Superintendent Michael Sentance is holding the results of … Continued

Bill Britt

June 19, 2017