Tommy Bice Archives • Alabama Political Reporter

The true story of the Montgomery school mess, Part I

In 2012, while working for the local newspaper, I broke the story of massive grade changing taking place within the Montgomery County school system. At the direction of school administrators, who were themselves receiving direction from the central office, students who were failing courses were being shuffled through “credit recovery” courses, where they earned better … Continued

June 1, 2018

Ivey signs resolution urging school board to hold nationwide search for next superintendent

Friday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a resolution urging the Alabama Board of Education to broaden its search for a new superintendent. State Representative Randall Shedd, R-Cullman, expressed his thanks to Ivey for signing a resolution sponsored by members of the House Urban and Rural Development Committee urging members of the State Board of Education … Continued

March 27, 2018

School Board to hold state superintendent interviews as early as April

By Brandon Moseley Alabama Political Reporter The Alabama State School Board has voted to extend Interim State Superintendent Ed Richardson’s contract until the end of June. According to the timeline adopted by the board at its last meeting, the next state school superintendent will not be selected until April at the earliest. “The Alabama State … Continued

December 21, 2017

State Superintendent Michael Sentance Resigns

By Brandon Moseley Alabama Political Reporter When the Alabama School Board chose Massachusetts Attorney Michael Sentance to be the Superintendent of Alabama’s school systems it was a controversial choice. That controversy only deepened when it was later learned that a certain member of the school board may have misled the public and the rest of … Continued

September 13, 2017

What happens when politicians forget about children

By Larry Lee At best, it was a shotgun wedding. A contrived affair with reason thrown to the wind and political outcome the only thing that mattered. A crudely manipulated process with ethics casually tossed aside. A shameless example of blind ambition being the one constant. The result was the installation of Mike Sentance as … Continued

April 26, 2017

The irony of righteous indignation

Education Matters By Larry Lee When State Superintendent of Education Mike Sentance told the State School Board Dec. 8, that the Office of Inspector General of the US Department of Education had determined that the State’s high school graduation rate was inaccurate, reaction was swift and true to form. Members of the Legislature who consistently … Continued

December 16, 2016

Hunter says that graduation rates were misstated

By Brandon Moseley Alabama Political Reporter Thursday, December 9, 2016, Alabama Superintendent of Education Michael Sentance reported to the Board of Education that the State of Alabama has been giving high school students diplomas that they did not really qualify for. Sentance had to admit that the State was deceiving the students and people of … Continued

December 12, 2016

Reaction to Federal officials questioning State’s high graduation rate while academic performance lags

By Brandon Moseley Alabama Political Reporter Multiple media sources report that almost 90 percent of Alabama students now graduate from high school on time. This is tremendous improvement in a short period of time and ranks third in the country. Student achievement in Alabama however is among the nation’s worst. In one recent math achievement … Continued

November 22, 2016

Reaction to Bentley Slamming Alabama Schools

By Brandon Moseley Alabama Political Reporter Wednesday, November 2, 2016, WSFA reported that Alabama Governor Robert Bentley (R) told the Alabama Association of Regional Councils Conference (AARC), “Our education system in this State sucks.” “I don’t use that term very much, but let me tell you. I wanna tell you this: When we are 51st on our NAEP scores in … Continued

November 3, 2016