Senate, House runoffs included on Alabama runoff ballot
There are important runoffs for Senate, Congress, State School Board and Court of Criminal Appeals.
Kay Ivey Appoints Tommie Stewart to State School Board
Tommie Stewart will replace the late Ella Bell, who passed away in November.
School board member Ella Bell dies
Ella Bell, a longtime member of the Alabama School Board, has died, the Alabama State Department of Education announced Sunday. She was 71. State Superintendent Eric Mackey in a statement called Bell an education icon who “dedicated her life to the betterment of the students of Alabama.” “Her tenacity and steadfast resolve in fighting for equity for all students will be her legacy always. Her presence on the Alabama State Board of Education will be sorely missed,” Mackey said. Bell was first elected to the State Board in 2000 and was re-elected four times. Her district included Montgomery and many low-income communities in Alabama’s Black Belt region. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who serves as president of the state school board, said Bell shared a “passion for the children of our state.” “She was an ardent champion of her district and will be missed. May the Lord be with her family and friends during this time,” Ivey said. Bell in recent months was an outspoken critic of proposal to replace the elected state school board with an appointed commission. Alabama voters will decide the measure next year. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Board of Education approves new superintendent Eric Mackey’s contract
The Alabama Board of Education approved new State Superintendent, Eric Mackey‘s compensation package and contract worth $311,000 on Thursday with a 7 to 2 vote. Mackey, who beat out Hoover City Schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy and Jefferson County Superintendent Craig Pouncey for the position in late April, starts on Monday. The contract details include a base salary of $245,000 a year for the initial three-year term, a $21,000 annual housing allowance, state-owned vehicle for official travel, reimbursement of up to $5,000 for professional development activities annually, and professional association dues. Mackey will also receive a 3 percent raise each year starting in 2019, unless the board votes against it. Board of Education Vice President, Montgomery Republican Stephanie Bell and board member, Montgomery Democrat Ella Bell were the two board members who voted no to Mackey’s contract. Stephanie Bell told AL.com that the contract was not taxpayer-friendly, and gave too much control to Mackey and not enough to the board. Ella Bell said she did not agree with the amount of the raise, stating that teachers will only be receiving a 2.5 percent raise next year. Another point of dissatisfaction from Bell was that the contract does not require and annual evaluation. She said the evaluation should be required, while other board members said the decision should be made year by year. If the board does find fault with Mackey’s performance, they must make a specific proposal for changes. Mackey has an extensive background in education, serving as a former teacher, principal and city superintendent, and has been serving as the executive director of the School Superintendent Association of Alabama since 2010.
Alabama education board chooses Eric Mackey for state superintendent
The director of Alabama’s superintendent association, Eric Mackey, was chosen Friday as the state’s new education superintendent in a tight vote clouded by an ongoing lawsuit between a candidate and a state education board member. Mackey beat out Hoover City Schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy and Jefferson County Superintendent Craig Pouncey. A fourth finalist, former Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott, dropped out of the running Friday morning. Mackey is a former teacher, principal and city superintendent who has served as the executive director of the School Superintendent Association of Alabama since 2010. He said his top priority will be to find an “assessment that fits right” on top of addressing unequal funding between rural and urban areas and school safety concerns. Members of the Alabama State Board of Education voted for Mackey after three hours of interviews with the three finalists in Montgomery on Friday. There were five votes for Mackey and four for Pouncey. After the vote was announced, board member Ella Bell raised the concern that Pouncey has an ongoing lawsuit against another member Mary Scott Hunter and others saying he was victim to a scheme that kept him from getting the job two years ago. Before the 2016 vote, someone anonymously gave board members a packet of information, including internal department emails, accusing Pouncey of getting state staff to write his 2009 dissertation when he was with the department. Pouncey said the accusation was untrue. A subsequent department report found that employee statements cleared Pouncey. Hunter did not recuse herself from the vote, saying she was fair and impartial. She voted for Mackey. Bell, who voted for Pouncey, said she wanted to initiate a lawsuit because without Hunter’s vote there could have been a run-off. “She shouldn’t be able to vote in this because it’s understood they have an adversarial relationship,” Bell said. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who serves as board president, said she had not spoken to any attorneys about the legal question but she was not aware of any rule where the chair could tell a board member to recuse him or herself. The board was seeking a replacement for former Superintendent Michael Sentance, who resigned in September after one year and one day on the job. Sentance stepped down after receiving a poor performance evaluation. A search firm whittled a field of more than 40 applicants to seven semifinalists, who were voted by the board down to the finalists. On Friday, each finalist was asked the same nine questions in an hour-long interview. Questions covered how to make students job-ready, creating a framework for assessment, ensuring equal funding between rural and urban schools and spearheading state interventions to help failing schools like is currently happening in Montgomery. Ivey said “this is the most important decision that this board will make in our terms.” She said she voted for Mackey because of his support for her “Strong Start, Strong Finish” initiative and his focus on teaching students computer science and coding. “I believe Dr. Mackey will serve us well and we will see forward thinking results,” she said. In his interview, Mackey expressed a desire to stay long-term – at least eight or ten years – in the role. Ivey said “that would suit me fine.” Mackey will start May 14. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Change.org petition calls for removal of State BOE member Ella Bell
Vice-President of the Alabama Board of Education Ella Bell has found herself under fire following a June 21 board meeting in which she asked whether or not a special academy could be formed for special needs students in order to improve test scores within Alabama’s public schools. “Is it against the law for us to establish perhaps an academy on special education or something on that order,” asked Bell, “so that our scores that already are not that good would not be further cut down by special-ed’s test scores involved?” While her question didn’t draw ire on the spot, it caught the attention of Cameron Smith, a regular columnist for AL.com and vice president for the R Street Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C. who wrote a column on Thursday saying Bell wants to “force special needs children into an institution.” Now there’s a change.org petition calling for her to immediately be removed from the board of education. Less than 18 hours after it’s creation, the petition started by Mary Catherine Hanson of Bessemer, Ala. has over 30,000 signatures. Bell claims her remarks were taken out of context. “The AL.com article with the headline stating a desire to ‘institutionalize’ special-need students takes my remarks out of context and defies the standards of objective journalism,” Bell released in a statement via the BOE on Thursday. “I never uttered the word nor have I ever considered ‘institutionalizing’ students with special needs. I asked a question about the legality of creating an academy that focuses squarely on the needs of students with intellectual disabilities. I understand how insensitive what I said must have sounded. To individuals who were offended by my remarks, no matter how well intended they were, I sincerely apologize. Watch Bell’s question at the board meeting below: https://youtu.be/q2nHaxJtFLc?t=17m38s
Alabama governor, education board OK charter school commission
The Alabama State Board of Education confirmed a list of appointed nominees on Tuesday for the state’s new charter school commission. Gov. Robert Bentley, who is president of the board but rarely attends meetings, made a surprise appearance. He said he attended after it became clear the board couldn’t make a quorum without him. “This was put in legislation and we need to get the board in place and so I felt like we needed a quorum so I came over to make a quorum and chair the meeting,” he said. Earlier this month, the board angered members of the Alabama Legislature by refusing to confirm the commission, which is designated with hearing appeals of charter school applications rejected on the local level. Earlier this year, Bentley and the Legislature approved a plan to allow charter schools. According to the law, the commission is appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor, House speaker and Senate president pro tem. The nominees then must be confirmed by the state board. The delay had prompted Republican Rep. Terri Collins of Decatur to introduce a bill that would cut the state board out of the confirmation process. Several board members who contested the first confirmation vote were absent on Tuesday because of funerals or illnesses. “I think they need a place,” Bentley said of the board. “They need a board that people can apply to and bring their grievances to, so I think a board being in place is important and I think it is good for the process.” Hours later, Collins withdrew her bill from the House calendar. State Superintendent Tommy Bice said the board will serve the commission as administrative support. “I know there are some members that may have differing opinions and that’s why we have a board,” he said. “Everybody’s not expected to show up and have the same opinion, so it was voted on today, it’s done now, we have the commission and we look forward to working with them.” Bice said the majority of the state’s charter school structure will not involve the commission, but because the BOE oversees K-12 education it’s important for it to stay involved in the process. “I mean, at the end of the day, the implementation, of the charter bill law rests with the state department of education,” he said. “We’re putting together the regulations; we’re putting together the implementation procedures, all those things associated with it, even with this commission.” Board member Ella Bell, who said she was absent for the funeral of her longtime friend and campaign manager, said she was glad the governor attended. “They are his people,” Bell said. One of the board members who voted was Mary Scott Hunter. Hunter said she’s heard other states also have had early difficulties in creating charter schools, but expects future votes will be “more normalized.” “I certainly can see why it was filed,” she said of the bill Collins sponsored. “It was filed as an insurance policy against this board not getting the vote that it needed. But now this board has gotten the vote that it needed, in the normal course, and has shown that it can get this done.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Committee OKs plan to remove BOE from charter schools
The House Education Policy Committee approved a bill on Tuesday that would remove the Alabama State Board of Education from confirming a new charter school commission. Republicans who sponsored Alabama’s newly passed charter school legislation expressed frustration at the state school board’s refusal to confirm a list of nominees for the commission. The charter school commission is responsible for hearing appeals of charter school applications rejected on the local level. Bill sponsor Republican Rep. Terri Collins of Decatur said the bill is needed to ensure the commission is in place by the June 1 deadline. “The bill has to go through so many steps in order to pass,” she said. “Getting that simply done by June 1 will be an effort. If they were to actually pass the state commission at any point during that, then the bill could just stop, but I’m probably not going to postpone the bill until they do something.” Republicans have passed charter school legislation this session after making it a priority for several years. Board members have said they wanted more time to interview and research candidates nominated by the governor, lieutenant governor, House speaker and Senate president pro tem. Several state board members have said they agree with being removed from the process. “I think they deserve the entire decision making process on this,” board member Ella Bell said last week. “They created the charter schools. This was not the decision of the people of this state.” Democratic Rep. Patricia Todd of Birmingham voted against the bill. She said it’s too soon to cut the school board out of the process. Todd said it seems reasonable to allow for the board to have more time talk with the candidates, even if it means extending the June 1 deadline. “They have had one round to look at people,” she said. “I don’t think just one round and all of a sudden boom they’re going to appoint them and take their authority away is good policy.” Other bills this session already have taken away major responsibilities from the state school board. Gov. Robert Bentley signed a bill removing the state’s two-year college system from BOE oversight. Another bill, which died in a Senate committee, would have created term limits for the board’s elected members but would have raised their pay. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Bill would cut Board of Education from charter school plan
The Alabama State Board of Education, having already suffered a sapping of power this legislative session, could soon be cut from confirming the state’s new charter school commission. Republican champions of charter schools are striking back this week after the state school board on Wednesday refused to confirm a list of nominations for a new charter school commission. The state commission would be designated with hearing appeals of charter school applications rejected on the local level. Board members said they didn’t have enough time to thoroughly vet the list of candidates, saying they felt the process was a set-up. “I thought it was ridiculous,” said Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston. “Those members had the information over a week. If they had taken the time to go through it they would have been prepared for the meeting.” Marsh, who sponsored the Senate bill to create charter schools, said delaying confirmations was “irresponsible.” He threatened to take action if the board didn’t act quickly. “I have a bill on my desk that goes to an appointed school board, which I personally would like to see,” he said. “I would like to be very selective and make sure we choose people with proper backgrounds. I’m not saying that these people don’t have it, but when action takes place like what took place the other day it makes me wonder.” Republicans finally passed charter school legislation earlier this session after making it a priority for several years. The day after the board’s meeting, Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, introduced a new bill that would allow nominees to forego board confirmation. The governor, lieutenant governor, Senate president pro tem and speaker of the House each nominate charter school commission members. The bill will be up for a vote in the House Education Policy Committee on Tuesday. Members of the Board of Education said they feel they are under attack more this session than in the past. Other bills this session already have taken away major responsibilities from the state school board. Gov. Robert Bentley signed a bill removing the state’s two-year college system from BOE oversight. Another bill, which died in a Senate committee, would have created term limits for the board’s elected members but would have raised their pay. “In 15 years, we’ve never had such intrusion into the operations of the board until this legislative session,” board member Ella Bell said. “So I just have to take it as their plan to control every process.” House Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, said the legislature and the governor tried including the school board in the process by allowing them to appoint members. “Some of the school board members have chosen to ignore their responsibilities under the law in an attempt block classroom innovation and keep thousands of students trapped in underperforming schools offering subpar educations,” he said. “These members are giving their personal prejudices and egos priority over the futures of a generation of public school students.” Board member Stephanie Bell said it would have been difficult to decide the best options without interviewing candidates. Bell said she’s fine with not being included in the process. “I don’t think they really cared,” she said. “Ultimately, I think the goal was to put us in a position where we could be blamed for rejecting names, and when a problem surfaces, with the approval of a charter that had been turned down at the local level, the question will be asked ‘who appointed this group?’” Betty Peters, another board member, also said she is fine with not confirming nominees. “I think that was the correct approach in the beginning,” she said. “Because how in the world would we be considered the appropriate people to just flip a coin and say, ‘I’ll take A or B. Next one. I’ll take A or B’?” Reprinted with permission from the Associated Press.
