Kay Ivey proclaims Jan. 20-26 Alabama “School Choice Week”
Governor Kay Ivey has proclaimed this week, January 20-26, to be Alabama School Choice Week, joining other states around the country in bringing awareness to school choice options available to parents. WHNT 19 News reports that, Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week said, “We’re excited that Alabama families are so passionate about school choice, and we’re encouraged by Gov. Ivey’s support for that,” said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. “We wish Alabama families all the best in their celebrations and hope that the planned events and activities will help parents find the educational opportunities that best meet their children’s needs.” More than 40,000 independent school choice events are planned for around the country and abroad, with 750 of those will be held in Alabama. That is a significant increase over last year, in which 548 events were held in the state. National School Choice Week was founded in 2011 as a nonpartisan “celebration of opportunity in education.” In August 2018, the Associated Press reported the findings by Education Next, a journal published by Harvard’s Kennedy School and Stanford University. According to the report, “Forty-four percent of respondents in the poll conducted in May said they support the expansion of charter schools, compared to 39 percent in 2017. The gain of 5 percentage points, however, did not fully offset the drop in support from 51 percent in 2016. When broken down according to party affiliation, 57 percent of Republicans and 36 percent of Democrats voiced support for charter schools, compared to 47 percent of Republicans and 34 percent of Democrats in 2017.” Late last year, Alabama board of education member Ella Bell, a democrat, spoke out during a work session claiming that Alabama’s landmark tax credit scholarship program for low income families was part of an effort to “destroy a whole race of people.” “They took money from the poorest counties in the state to send kids to private school,” Bell claimed, after accusing the program of “stealing” from the state. “That’s just awful.” This claim was disputed in an editorial by Rachel Blackmon Bryars, a senior fellow at the Alabama Policy Institute. Bryars said, “The plain fact today is that the Alabama Accountability Act is a tiny fraction of our state’s education budget, it gives low-income families a sometimes life-altering choice, and almost all of the students receiving scholarships are minorities. We should all be proud of that. Because in the end, this is about what we believe education dollars are for – the system or the student.” . Alabama currently ranks near the bottom in state education rankings.
Grades are out on Alabama schools
The annual chance-for-success index from Education Week was released Tuesday with Alabama schools ranking near the bottom. This index looks at criteria around early foundations, school years, and adult outcomes for students and is the first of three measures Education Week uses to create their annual Quality Counts rankings. While the average grade for a state is a C, Alabama schools received a C minus, giving them a ranking of 45 of 51, which is in keeping with US News & World Report’s ranking of 47. In early foundations, the state received a B minus (ranked 39th), a D plus for school years (45th), and a C for adult outcomes (42nd). With a score of 73.4, the state is up 3.2 points over last year, when Alabama received a score of 70.2 (also a C minus). Statewide, things are looking better. District-level grades for the 2017-18 school year were up over those of 2016-17, bringing Alabama schools to an overall B grade, up from a C plus the previous year. Alabama Superintendent Eric Mackey stated in a prepared release, “Overall, we are pleased with the academic growth that we see across the state. It is a testament to the dedication of our teachers, principals, and all those who support their work that student performance continues to rise. As state superintendent, I am grateful for these hardworking individuals in our local schools who improve the trajectory of children’s lives every day. We believe that our best days and highest levels of achievement lie ahead of us, not behind, and we look forward to working with our state policymakers and lawmakers in 2019 to make sure that we are providing ever better resources and supports for our schools.” Five years ago, Alabama introduced the Alabama Accountability Act, a tax-credit scholarship program that serves low-income students and those from failing schools. While data shows that test results are similar for students taking advantage of this program and students in district schools, there is not a continuity of data between public and private schools, making comparison difficult. AL.com reports that suggestions to make these comparisons more useful would require legislative action.
These are the best colleges in Alabama, according to a new 2019 ranking
In a fierce global economy, a college degree can help secure employment and keep you ahead of the competition. And though success ultimately rests on students’ own determination and performance, the quality of the schools they choose can certainly have an impact. Which is why with the first “early decision” college-application deadline looming on Nov. 1 and tuition costs having more than doubled since the 1980s, personal-finance website WalletHub on Monday released its 2019’s Best College & University Rankings. In its 2019 roundup, WalletHub compared nearly 1,000 higher-education institutions in the U.S. based on 30 key measures grouped into seven categories, such as Student Selectivity, Cost & Financing and Career Outcomes. The data set ranges from student-faculty ratio to graduation rate to post-attendance median salary. Recognizing the challenge of predicting future outcomes, WalletHub’s Best Colleges ranking also analyzes post-attendance metrics — the student-loan default rate and the share of former students out-earning high school graduates, for instance — to show the value of the education students can expect to receive beyond their undergraduate studies. Top 10 colleges and universities in Alabama 1 University of West Alabama 6 Auburn University 2 University of Montevallo 7 Samford University 3 University of Alabama 8 Spring Hill College 4 University of Alabama-Huntsville 9 University of North Alabama 5 Birmingham-Southern College 10 Jacksonville State University With that in mind, here’s a closer look at the top three Alabama schools and how each performed in certain metrics: School snapshot: University of West Alabama (1 = best; 12 = average; 23 = worst) 1st: Admission Rate 5th: Net Cost 4th: Student-Faculty Ratio 5th: On-Campus Crime 1st: Gender & Racial Diversity 17th: Graduation Rate 11th: Post-Attendance Median Salary School snapshot: University of Montevallo (1 = best; 12 = average; 23 = worst) 13th: Admission Rate 11th: Net Cost 6th: Student-Faculty Ratio 7th: On-Campus Crime 13th: Gender & Racial Diversity 8th: Graduation Rate 17th: Post-Attendance Median Salary School snapshot: University of Alabama (1 = best; 12 = average; 23 = worst) 9th: Admission Rate 20th: Net Cost 23rd: Student-Faculty Ratio 9th: On-Campus Crime 15th: Gender & Racial Diversity 3rd: Graduation Rate 6th: Post-Attendance Median Salary Here’s a look at how Alabama schools compared to the rest of the country: Source: WalletHub
Alabama Community College System receives $1.75M federal ARC grant
The Alabama Community College System has been awarded an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) grant in the amount of $1,750,000, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby announced Thursday. This grant funding is a part of the Alabama Skills Training to Support Real Opportunities for New Growth (STRONG) project, which will target the coal-impacted communities in 10 counties in the state of Alabama. “Promoting workforce development is vital to the overall growth and development of our state,” said Shelby. “This ARC grant will provide opportunity for students interested in entering Alabama’s advanced manufacturing industry while also allowing businesses throughout our state to have increased access to a highly skilled workforce. I look forward to continuing to work with ARC and the Alabama Community College System to promote education and economic advancements.” The STRONG project seeks to increase awareness about the current and future job opportunities available in the advanced manufacturing sector, a growing part of the regional economy. It will provide students and workers with life skills, remedial education, and cutting-edge technical skills and training to prepare them for either additional postsecondary education or direct placement into high-wage and high-demand careers available in our state’s advanced manufacturing industry. Individual courses will be offered through Bevill State, Jefferson State, Lawson State, and Shelton State Community Colleges. The project will provide residents with the benefit of working in advanced manufacturing, and it will serve close to 4,200 participants and their families directly with critical life and technical skills gap training, new job opportunities, and access to vital social and financial services. The grant ensures at least 2,101 workers and trainees along with 976 students will obtain new or enhanced positions, 1,132 jobs will be retained, seven new jobs will be created and six new programs will be implemented. Overall, there will be 77 participating businesses involved in this project.
Public school reputation weighs on Air Force base in Alabama
The poor reputation of schools in Alabama’s capital city is creating friction with the city’s Air Force base. Lt. Gen. Anthony Cotton, commander of Air University and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, says the state of schools in Montgomery is putting a strain on his job, with airmen arriving on base alone and faculty members reluctant to accept positions at the base. More than 56 percent of airmen in last year’s Air War College came to Montgomery without families, Cotton tells the Montgomery Advertiser, with schools being the top reason cited for separation. “The reality is, ‘If my kids aren’t happy, I’m not happy,” Cotton said of airmen. “If I have to try to spend so much time trying to understand how to get them ready and prepared for secondary education, then I’m not doing my mission as far as taking care of you, and making sure that I protect our country.’” Rachel Scott said she started a side business to raise tuition to send her oldest child to a private high school, but would rather save the money for college. She said her family is looking at buying a house outside Montgomery by summer to seek better schools. Until now, they’ve relied on Maxwell’s on-base school, but it ends after eighth grade. “We moved on base primarily for the school because my husband did research before we moved here and found out that the school systems were rated really low,” Scott said. “Their ratings are so low, I feel like my kids would fall behind.” In the 2016-2017 school year, 34 percent of Montgomery County seniors were deemed to have graduated without being college or career ready. The district’s five regular high schools had a combined average ACT score of 16, failing to meet the minimum score of 21 for enrollment at the University of Alabama. On the state’s report card, 66 percent of the Montgomery public schools received grades of D or F. Montgomery County Superintendent Ann Roy Moore wrote in an email that more than 600 students in the system are identified as military dependents. She said the system understands such students “unique needs.” “We are meeting with Maxwell representatives and the Military Child Transition Coalition team to identify ways we can show military families we care about their needs, and that we are working daily to improve academic achievement in our school system,” Moore wrote. The impact is a double-edged, with Montgomery failing to accommodate the men and women that serve this country, and failing to accommodate its biggest economic impact, with the base contributing $1.2 billion annually to the city. Montgomery, Scott said, is losing money because people are forced to live outside the city. Opening the base’s school to military families living off base, however, is not an option the Air Force has. Cotton declined to comment when asked to discuss potential solutions the Air Force is exploring to assist military members who are struggling because of the state of the school system. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Alabama Education Association calls for end to state’s ‘Failing Schools List’
The Alabama Education Association (AEA) — statewide professional organization that represents public school employees in the state of — is asking state lawmakers to repeal the Alabama Accountability Act (AAA), a law that allows parents to transfer students from schools that have been placed on the state’s “Failing Schools List” to other schools not on that list. The AEA published their call to lawmakers in the latest edition of the Alabama School Journal. The issue: the AAA creates a refundable income tax credit to reimburse Alabama taxpayers who are the parents of students enrolled in or assigned to attend a failing K-12 public school to offset the cost of transferring the student to a non-failing public or nonpublic school of the parents’ choice. The AEA says this is taking money from cash-strapped, failing schools. “Since its inception in 2013, the Alabama Accountability Act (AAA) has directly siphoned more than $140 million from Alabama’s cash-strapped K-12 classrooms,” wrote the AEA. “The mounting reports of ineffectiveness of the program come as no surprised to education officials who correctly warned of the AAA’s flaws in 2013.” “AEA encourages educators to share the data list in the chart [above] with all concerned citizens… talk to your community leaders about the financial losses to your school district due to the AAA,” the AEA added in the article.
Bradley Byrne introduces legislation to make schools safer
Schools nationwide will soon be safer for students, teachers, and faculty if Alabama 1st District U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne has anything to say about it. A member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, Byrne recently introduced the Make Schools Safer Act to provide school officials with better information regarding school safety. His bill requires the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences — part of the U.S. Dept. of Education, an the nation’s leading source for rigorous, independent education research, evaluation and statistics — to include studies and resources relating to school safety and mental health as part of the What Works Clearinghouse, which is available to educators, counselors, and principals. “School safety should be a priority for every level of government,” said Byrne. “While I do not want the federal government to mandate how schools protect their students, I believe it is appropriate for the federal government to provide high quality research and information to schools about the best practices for keeping students safe, coordinating with law enforcement, and identifying at-risk students. My bill offers a simple yet profound step toward making our schools safer.” The new studies and resources will focus on educating appropriate school personnel on techniques for identifying students who may need assistance, collaborate with health care professionals, state and local law enforcement, youth organizations, and parents to implement procedures to assist students. By making resources available, Byrne’s legislation endeavors to allow schools to select the approach that works best for them, rather than prescribing a one-size-fits-all solution from the federal government. Read Byrne’s bill below:
Science is clear: It’s time to end corporal punishment in our schools
I was quite surprised to see earlier this week that Georgia has re-instituted corporal punishment in the school system. Whew! I thought that was disturbing. More disturbing was when Alabama Today looked into it and found that Alabama law allows corporal punishment in schools and most districts have allowed it. There are several things wrong schools implementing corporal punishment, so I’ll just hit the top three. 1) Corporal punishment doesn’t work. There are few things that have been studied as much in early childhood development as the use of spanking and corporal punishment, and not a single study has found that it does anything except erode the trust between children and adults, and exacerbate the problems versus address the underlying issues of the behavior. Don’t believe me here’s a few places to look: The Spanking Debate is Over published in Psychology Today By Noam Shpancer, Ph.D. Feb. 05, 2018 The case against spanking published in the American Psychological Association By Brendan L. Smith, April 2012, Vol 43, No. 4 Physical punishment of children: lessons from 20 years of research published in Canadian Medical Association Journal By: Joan Durrant, PhD and Ron Ensom, MSW RSW 2) The idea that if you spare the rode, spoil the kid is sincerely outdated. There are ways in which you can raise a healthy, happy, disciplined, un-wild child without ever spanking them. This has been proven using methods of positive reinforcement. So we don’t just get rid of spanking and allow children to run buck wild, we hold them accountable for their actions at young ages. We hold their parents accountable for helping them evolve emotionally and developmentally into young people that understand actions have consequences and that their behavior matters. We need to focus on the positive aspects and ways we can have children develop self-discipline and respect. There are school programs around the country that are working effectively to address children’s developmental needs. Some are having incredible results. How One Middle School Cut Discipline Referrals By 98 Percent in Just One Year By Sabrina Holcomb 3) School administrators should not be expected to be parents. We have to re-assess the idea that ‘where we are failing at home, that teachers and administrators of a school should step in.’ And that of course includes, taking major disciplinary actions against our children. Prevent Child Abuse America set a resolution regarding the use of corporal punishment in schools. Their resolution covers these issues plus some. Corporal punishment, such as spanking, has detrimental effects on the development of children. Prevent Child Abuse America has taken a position on this issue. A Resolution on the Use of Corporal Punishment in Schools and Institutions Whereas, age-appropriate discipline may be necessary in school and institutional settings, nonviolent means of discipline, such as giving time-outs, explaining rules, or taking away privileges, have been shown to be more effective than violent discipline. Whereas, the use of physical punishment teaches children how to use physical violence to control others rather than peaceful means of solving problems.1 Whereas, 365,508 school children were subjected to corporal punishment during the 1997-1998 school year.2 Whereas, currently nearly 50 percent of all states (23) allow corporal punishment in schools.3 Whereas, the use of physical force against an adult is considered a crime of battery or assault. Therefore, be it resolved, that Prevent Child Abuse America supports: Banning, in every state, the use of corporal punishment against children in all schools and institutions. Providing initial and ongoing training to all teachers and staff on alternative means of discipline. Promoting positive and appropriate behavior in school by teaching children appropriate behavior and coping skills through effective and proven educational and school-based programs that award good behavior and encourage accountability and peer mediation. A school should be a safe-haven for children to learn. It should be somewhere that they’re excited to go and look forward to going and seeing their friends, and learning and experiencing things. School should not just be a glorified daycare or a place for secondary parenting. We need to do better and expect more.We need to stop corporal punishment not just in our schools, but in our homes as well.
Yes, corporal punishment is still legal in most Alabama schools
A school in neighboring Georgia has gained the national spotlight after announcing it is bringing back a controversial form of corporal punishment for students who misbehave: paddling. “There was a time when corporal punishment was kind of the norm in school and you didn’t have the problems you have (now),” said the superintendent at the Georgia School for Innovation and the Classics in Hephzibah where paddled has just been given the green-light once more, Jody Boulineau. What many Alabamians may not know is that paddling is legal in their state too. In 1995, the state Legislature passed a law — found in Section 16-1-24.1 of the Alabama Code that permits the use of corporal punishment in public schools, but directs local school boards to adopt their own codes of conduct and disciplinary procedures. The statute, however, is pretty vague but it does prohibit any “excessive force or cruel and unusual punishment.” (g) Except in the case of excessive force or cruel and unusual punishment, no certified or non-certified employee of the State Board of Education or any local board of education shall be civilly liable for any action carried out in conformity with state law and system or school rules regarding the control, discipline, suspension, and expulsion of students. According to the most recent available data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in Sept. 2016, 107 out of 133 school districts in Alabama exercised physical force on its students during the 2013-2014 school year. The translated to nearly 19,000 Alabama students being paddled that year. Examples of corporal punishment policies in Alabama Alexander City Schools: shall consist of no more than three (3) licks administered to the buttocks with a smooth surface paddle free of holes and/or cracks. Autagua County School System: shall not be administered in the presence of other students and shall not include more than three (3) licks to the buttocks. Refusal to be paddled can result in suspension or expulsion. Dothan City Schools: The principal of a school is vested by the Code of Alabama with the authority to administer corporal punishment in conformance with the policy of the Dothan City Board of Education. But just because it’s still allowed doesn’t mean everyone is still on board with it. Mobile County Public Schools, Mountain Brook Schools, and Talladega City Schools. are among a few school systems who have outright banned the practice in their districts. Further, following the release of statistics of the U.S. Department of Education, the Alabama Association of School Boards voted to change the group’s position from “discouraging” paddling of students to “prohibiting” the act in in December 2016. Nevertheless, the vote doesn’t have any teeth to it – it was merely an official position statement that is not legally enforceable, and the issue has not been a legislative priority of the state legislature.
Gates Foundation’s new school initiative awards $1.1M grant for JeffCo schools
Twelve schools in Jefferson County, Ala. are working together to improve 8th and 9th grade math through a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant to the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). The $1.1 million grant is one of 19 grants announced Tuesday by the foundation. SREB will use the grant to launch a network of 10 secondary schools that will focus on increasing the proficiency rates of Black, Latino, and low-income students on 8th grade math and 9th grade Algebra 1 in the Jefferson County part of Birmingham, Ala. “A poor start in high school math derails far too many students, but we can change that course if we find what works to prepare them,” said SREB President Stephen L. Pruitt. “By managing two networks — one urban and one rural — we will be able to learn and share critical lessons about improvement cycles within and across schools with similar challenges.” This summer, to understand the underlying causes of poor math performance, SREB began working with Jefferson County educators to collect data and conduct focus groups with students and teachers. Teams within and across schools are harnessing the power of the network to investigate problems and share solutions. Some have begun plan-do-study-act cycles to test strategies. Over time, promising solutions will be shared across the network to gather more data and further improve them. “We’re unpeeling the onion, figuring out why we’re not making progress, so teachers can find strategies for these individual students in these specific schools,” said Lauri Johnson, SREB organizational improvement director. “This is a singular opportunity to develop a continuous improvement mindset that focuses deeply on the needs of each student.” Urban and Rural Networks for School Improvement Jefferson County urban network schools Corner High School Corner Middle School Minor Middle School Minor High School Bragg Middle School Erwin Middle School Gardendale High School Oak Grove High School Irondale Middle School Shades Valley High School Hueytown High School Center Point High School Rural network 10 schools to be announced in late 2018 SREB and Jefferson County have partnered since 2015 on school improvement strategies across the district’s middle and high schools.
These 50 Alabama schools top the state in reading success, earn share of $1 million
Reading is a gateway to future success — in school and in life. It is critical to start early if children are to develop the skills they need to be successful. Which is part of the reason why the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) is rewarding the top 50 Alabama schools who showed the most improvement in last year’s 3rd grade reading results money totaling a million dollars. Alabama lawmakers added an additional $1 million to the Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) budget during the 2018 Legislative Session to be divided evenly among each school selected will receive a $20,000 check as a way of recognizing and incentivizing teachers and students who have worked hard to achieve proficiency in reading. “Reading is the cornerstone to all other learning. When we make sure our students can read and comprehend what they are reading at an early age, we prepare them for a greater possibility of academic success throughout their lives,” State Superintendent of Education, Dr. Eric Mackey previously said about the initiative. There will be a special recognition and awards ceremony on Thursday, September 13 at the ALSDE after the September Alabama State Board of Education meeting. Governor Kay Ivey, Alabama legislators, and other dignitaries will be on hand to personally congratulate all 50 schools. Below are the award recipients: State School Board District 1: Fairhope Elementary School-Baldwin County Silverhill School – Baldwin County Spanish Fort Elementary School – Baldwin County Swift Elementary School – Baldwin County Pleasant Home School – Covington County WS Harlan Elementary School – Covington County Eichold-Mertz School of Math and Science – Mobile County State School Board District 2: Cleburne County Elementary School – Cleburne County Kinston School – Coffee County Highlands Elementary School – Dothan City Geneva County Elementary School – Geneva County Samson Elementary School – Geneva County Slocomb Elementary School – Geneva County Abbeville Elementary School – Henry County Wedowee Elementary School – Randolph County State School Board District 3: Clanton Intermediate School – Chilton County Bluff Park Elementary School- Hoover City Deer Valley Elementary School – Hoover City Greystone Elementary School – Hoover City Mountain Brook Elementary School – Mountain Brook City Pelham Oaks Elementary School – Pelham City Mt. Laurel Elementary School – Shelby County State School Board District 4: Phillips Academy – Birmingham City State School Board District 5: Billingsley High School – Autauga County Pine Level Elementary School – Autauga County Southern Choctaw Elementary School – Choctaw County Sweet Water High School – Marengo County State School Board District 6: Randolph Park Elementary School – Anniston City Appalachian School – Blount County Cold Springs Elementary School – Cullman County Parkside Elementary School – Cullman County Chestnut Grove Elementary School – Decatur City F.E. Burleson Elementary School – Hartselle City Springville Elementary School – St. Clair County State School Board District 7: Hatton Elementary School – Colbert County Leighton Elementary School – Colbert County Berry Elementary School – Fayette County Mount Olive Elementary School – Jefferson County South Lamar School – Lamar County Central High School – Lauderdale County Underwood Elementary School – Lauderdale County Crestline Elementary School – Mountain Brook City Cahaba Elementary School – Trussville City Tuscaloosa Magnet School – Elementary – Tuscaloosa City Verner Elementary School – Tuscaloosa City State School Board District 8: Attalla Elementary School – Attalla City Fyffe High School – DeKalb County Henagar Junior High School – DeKalb County Sylvania School – DeKalb County Thurston T Nelson Elementary School – Scottsboro City
Poll: Support for school choice growing among Republicans
Support for charter schools and private school voucher programs has gone up over the past year, with Republicans accounting for much of the increase, according to a survey published Tuesday. The findings by Education Next, a journal published by Harvard’s Kennedy School and Stanford University, come as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos promotes alternatives to traditional public schools. Forty-four percent of respondents in the poll conducted in May said they support the expansion of charter schools, compared to 39 percent in 2017. The gain of 5 percentage points, however, did not fully offset the drop in support from 51 percent in 2016. When broken down according to party affiliation, 57 percent of Republicans and 36 percent of Democrats voiced support for charter schools, compared to 47 percent of Republicans and 34 percent of Democrats in 2017. “Support is up among Republicans for various strategies to expand school choice, and the Trump administration’s embrace of those policies is a likely explanation,” said Martin West, associate professor of education at Harvard University and a co-author of the report. Nina Rees, president of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools said the findings “demonstrate through the educational choices they make for their children – families want high-quality charter school options for their kids. “Above all else, parents care that their child has access to an excellent school, and as education advocates it is our job to ensure that wish becomes a reality,” Rees added. Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, noted that support for charters has risen mostly among Republicans. “I hate to see an issue turn into a partisan question,” Lake said. “I don’t think that an education policy that’s designed to get better outcomes for kids should ever be a partisan issue.” Support for publicly funded vouchers given to low-income families to help them pay tuition at private school rose from 37 percent to 42 percent over the past year. The Education Department welcomed the results of the poll. “The data consistently show that parents want more education options for their kids and when they are empowered with options, they like it and their kids benefit,” said press secretary Elizabeth Hill. “Education freedom is the future.” Meanwhile, Americans seem to be more satisfied with their local police and the post office than with their neighborhood school. While 51 percent of respondents said they would give their local schools a grade of A or B, 68 percent gave the local post office a similar grade and 69 percent the local police. “It makes sense that only 50 percent of Americans are giving their public school a good grade of an A or a B that they would express support for alternatives to those public schools,” said Patrick McGuinn, a professor of political science and education at Drew University. In the Black Lives Matter era, African-American respondents gave their local police much lower marks than other respondents, but their views of their local schools were even worse. Thirty-nine percent gave their local schools an A or a B, while the local police force received such marks from 43 percent of African-American respondents. The study also found that many Americans favor raising teacher salaries and increasing school funding in the aftermath of teachers walking out of schools in six states earlier this spring to protest pay and other issues. Informed about average teacher earnings in their state, nearly half said they support raising teacher pay. That number was 67 percent when respondents were not told explicitly how much their local teachers were making. Nationally, the average teacher’s salary was $58,950 in 2017, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. “The sense of economic insecurity for teachers is very strong and there is growing support for higher pay, not just from teachers but from the broader community,” said Evan Stone, CEO of Educators For Excellence, a teachers’ advocacy organization. West said that while many believe teachers should be making more, there is disagreement over whether they should be compensated based on how much their students learn or using some other metric. “To the extent that the debate moves from how much are teachers are paid to how they are paid, there is potential for continued conflict,” West said. The Education Next survey was based on interviews with 4,601 adults across the country. The margin of error was 1.4 percentage points. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
