Terri Collins: Legislature passes more than two dozen bills to improve public education outcomes across Alabama
Often lost among the more provocative and controversial bills that generate headlines and hullabaloo during legislative sessions are the solid policy measures designed to address long-standing problems endemic to state government. As the chair of the House Education Policy Committee, I can attest that we passed more than two dozen bills and measures to support our teachers and administrators, improve classroom instruction, and increase test scores and outcomes in a variety of subjects. For the fourth consecutive year, the Legislature approved an Education Trust Fund budget with record funding, which, at $8.3 billion, makes historic investments in K-12 public schools, community colleges, and public four-year institutions, and each of these record budgets have been implemented without having to declare the painful, mid-year budget cuts known as proration. It is important to note, in fact, that proration occurred on an average of every other year when Democrats controlled the Legislature, but as a result of responsible budgeting practices that have since been put in place, proration has been avoided in each of the dozen years under Republican leadership. A generation of students and teachers will soon avoid experiencing the chaos that accompanies prorating the budget. Included within the budget were the most generous pay raises awarded to public school educators in decades. Like other states across the nation, Alabama is experiencing a dramatic shortage of classroom teachers, so pass both targeted pay raises for new instructors and substantial salary increases for veteran educators in order o help us recruit, retain, and re-entice desperately needed personnel. Additional incentives, such as improved retirement benefits and loan forgiveness, were also enacted in order to attract teachers to particularly difficult-to-staff subjects like math and science and to geographic areas where the need is the greatest. Funding increases for the Alabama Reading Initiative, commonly known as ARI, and the Literacy Act, two innovative programs designed to increase reading scores across the state; the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative; and the state’s nationally-recognized “First Class” pre-kindergarten program, which is the model for our new emphasis on funneling auxiliary teachers into K-3 classrooms, were included in the budget, as well. Recognizing the need to focus laser-like attention upon increasing math scores across the state, an entirely new education program was also created and funded by the Legislature. Recent standardized test results revealed that Alabama currently ranks 52nd in the nation in math scores, a particularly embarrassing statistic when you consider that there are only 50 states in the union. Only 22% of Alabama students were proficient in math on the 2021 ACAP state assessment, including only 11% of low-income students and 7% of black students. In addition, 28 K-5 schools in Alabama currently have ZERO percent of students proficient in math. A state that designed the rockets that took men to the moon and today houses factories that rely upon advanced engineering to manufacture state-of-the art automobiles, airplanes, and weaponry must not be content for its students to wallow at the bottom of math skills. The newly-created Numeracy Act will follow the model set by proven successful programs like ARI and the Alabama Literacy Act in order to concentrate educational resources on an obvious problem in need of addressing. Much like ARI raised reading scores statewide by placing specially-trained reading coaches in public schools, the Numeracy Act will locate specially-trained math coaches in areas where they are needed. It also allows the State Department of Education to intervene in schools that continue to perform below expected levels even after additional educational resources are put in place. A new Office of Mathematics Improvement within the State Department of Education will be tasked with ensuring that students are at or above grade-level proficiency in math by the fifth grade, and it will be held accountable for results. As part of the first major overhaul and reform of state mental health services since Gov. Lurleen Wallace’s administration, the Legislature passed a measure requiring each school system across Alabama to employ a mental health service coordinator. This effort goes hand-in-glove with the findings of the state’s Emergency Task Force on School Safety and Security that I chaired in response to a series of school shootings across the nation in 2018. The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and at-home instruction for students that resulted certainly reinforced the importance of access to high-speed broadband Internet in rural Alabama. When circumstances force reliance on classes and instruction through Zoom and other technology services, no student should be left behind because necessary Internet access is unavailable in the area where they reside. Much progress has been and continues to be made in the effort, and the Legislature appropriated another $243 million to spur broadband expansion. Additional bills such as those related to Accountability Act scholarships, which allow children from low-income homes to escape failing schools for those that perform well; the textbook selection process; English language learners; public school registrations for transferring military families; cybersecurity; school construction; and others were also passed this session. While the media devotes the majority of headlines and spotlight to the measures that produce Internet clicks and provoke strong feelings among liberals and conservatives alike, please know that the House Education Policy Committee and my colleagues in the Legislature are constantly working to improve public education for students, teachers, and parents across the state. Alabama is a special place to live, work, worship, and raise a family, and taking our public schools to the next level will simply make an already great state even better. State Rep. Terri Collins (R – Decatur) was elected to represent Alabama’s House District 8 in 2010. She serves as chair of the House Education Policy Committee and holds a seat on the budget-writing committee for K-12 public schools, community colleges, and public universities.
Alabama leads nation in eliminating Chinese Communist Party influence in higher education
Lawmakers hailing from both sides of the aisle in Washington are shifting their focus to an increasingly relevant threat towards national security and academic freedom: Confucius Institutes. Funded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), these institutes have expanded to over 67 individual university campuses nationwide, with an additional 500 Confucius Classrooms at K-12 schools. Ambiguously labeled as cultural centers, Confucius Institutes have simultaneously proven themselves to be a vehicle of China’s political agenda through propaganda and intelligence gathering. Within these classrooms, historical events are only permitted to be discussed through a rosy lens towards the Chinese government, while documented events such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, or the current human rights abuses against the Uyghurs, are prohibited from the entirety of classroom discourse. During a U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray confirmed that the FBI has observed China use “nontraditional collectors, especially in the academic setting” to engage in espionage and will continue to take “investigative steps” at Confucius Institutes. Additionally, the U.S. Department of State designated Confucius Institutes as “an entity advancing Beijing’s global propaganda and malign influence campaign on U.S. campuses and K-12 classrooms.” The state of Alabama has hosted two Confucius Institutes in its history; with established institutes at Alabama A&M University, Auburn University at Montgomery, and Troy University. Alabama A&M University’s Confucius Institute successfully closed in April 2021 after receiving notification of a potential loss of eligibility for federal funds. Other key actors in the state who advocated for the closure of Confucius Institutes include groups such as the College Republican Federation of Alabama as well as legislators Congressman Mo Brooks and State Representative Tommy Hanes (R-Bryant). Congressman Mo Brooks, a member of Alabama’s congressional delegation, was one of the initial Washington lawmakers to bring attention to the influence of Confucius Institutes. Brooks has served as an original cosponsor for the Higher Education Transparency Act, the Transparency for Confucius Institutes Act, the Foreign Influence Transparency Act, in addition to bipartisan effort, the Concerns Over Nations Funding University Campus Institutes in the United States (CONFUCIUS) Act. While the state of Alabama has made national headway in approaching the closure of Confucius Institutes within its state, not all of Alabama’s leading figures are zealous to join the national movement to limit foreign influence in the U.S. education system. Alabama House Bill 9 and Senate Bill 280, respectively, intended to cease funding of Confucius Institutes and were both opposed by Chair of the House Education Policy Committee, Terri Collins (R-Decatur), and Senator Jim McClendon. It was later revealed that Senator McClendon embarked on a 2015 Confucius Institute-sponsored trip to China. A number of former Alabama legislators, including a Troy University board of trustees member, also participated in the same Confucius Institute-sponsored international trip. Troy University continues to defend its relationship with its Confucius Institutes in a written statement, “Troy University’s association with the Confucius Institute has been positive, and we have seen no evidence of undue political influence from the Chinese government nor has there been any evidence of intellectual theft.” Time will tell if the state of Alabama will continue to lead the nation in defending national security and preserving academic freedom through the closure of the state’s last remaining Confucius Institute at Troy University.
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.
