As we continue to play the blame game about the Montgomery public school situation, it is interesting to see what has happened  in Inglewood, CA since the state took over its school system in 2012. As an article in the Los Angeles Times titled: "Six years after the...

Knowing there is always more than one way to skin a cat, some Alabama legislators are always looking for new ways to sneak more money away from public schools. This time it was by allowing taxpayers to use tuition to private schools as a tax break, thus taking more...

It's no secret that the last few years have been a challenge for Alabama public education.  Certainly we have had legislation passed that has not been helpful. The best such examples are a bill passed in 2012 requiring that all schools receive a letter grade of A-F...

Each year the national organization, Rural Schools Collaborative runs a small grant program for rural teachers.  (I serve on their board.)  And it's time for teachers to make application. We have awarded 15 grants in the last few years.  While they are usually not...

The Rural Schools Collaborative, a national organization, has funded small grants for rural schools in Alabama for several years.  (I am pleased to serve on their board.)  Eight state projects were funded in the most recent grant cycle. Two of the efforts were a...

Polling data released by the Network for Public Education (NPE) shows that an overwhelming proportion of parents, teachers and students are opposed to teachers carrying guns in schools, and believe that gun control, including the banning of assault weapons, is the...

It's easy to tell this is an election year in Alabama by the way some politicians are trying to capitalize on another school shooting.  Right on cue, Rep. Will Ainsworth of Guntersville, who is running for Lt. Governor, is touting a bill to allow trained, certified...

Head east from Montgomery on I-85, go north on highway 49 at the Tuskegee/Franklin exit, take a right in Dadeville and pass the cemetery and you're at Dadeville elementary where principal Chris Dark watches over 641 kindergarten through sixth grade students. It was...

Since announcing last week that I am running for a seat on the Montgomery County school board this spring, I have definitely been humbled by the response I have received.  Email after email after email wished me success and encouragement.  School principals from here...

Brothers Charles and David Koch are two of the richest people in the world.  They own Koch Industries, the second-largest privately owned company in the country.  In 2013 the company had revenues of $115 billion. Long active in conservative politics, as this...

While I will never claim that I don't cuss, I work hard to refrain from doing so on my blog.  But in this case, it's damn hard not to. Politicians, particularly Senate majority leader Del Marsh and Rep. Terri Collins, seem to have gone out of their way to tear down...

One of mother's favorite expressions was, "It just flew all over me."  Interpretation--something got her attention and she was not happy about it. And from time to time, I must admit that things "fly all over me" as well.  A great example being this recent article in...

Saturday, Jan. 27 dawned wet, dreary and chilly across  Alabama.  The prefect morning to roll over and sleep in. But 500 teachers and one sleepy-eyed blogger converged on Homewood middle school in the Birmingham suburbs for a gathering of the Alabama National Board...

It has been well-documented that for the past couple of years, the Alabama state board of education has not resembled a well-oiled machine.  Unfortunately it has spit and sputtered and lurched and bucked like Grandpa's old truck heading for its last roundup....

I have long thought that "most wheels have been invented."  So I have spent many, many years looking for them.  In other words, what was someone doing that was worthy of being shared with others. My first job out of Auburn University, back about the time the earth...

My little front yard in Montgomery is a blanket of white this Wednesday morning as Mother Nature sprinkled between one to two inches of snow during the night.  And not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse. Nothing is moving and  I've yet to see the youngsters...

Editor's note:  My friend Wendy Lang is a former teacher who lives in Decatur.  She works for the Alabama Education Association as a uniserv district director and is a weekly columnist for the Decatur Daily.  Here are some reflections from her. Educators often have a...

Courtney Wilburn, who is in her seventh year as principal of White Plains Middle in Calhoun County, has been named middle school principal of the year by the Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools (CLAS). Under her direction, White Plains Middle has become noted for...

Given all the commotion and twists and turns, not to mention law suits and investigations, swirling around the state school board in the last 18-24 months, it was dog gone near inevitable that legislation would surface for the upcoming session designed to re-structure...

We'll just call him Sully, because that's what everyone else calls him.  Except on those occasions when his mother, as mamas sometimes do, calls him by his given name of Sullivan. He is in the third-grade and is 110 percent boy.  He is not allergic to sweat or dirt,...

As I have wandered in the "education" wilderness for the past few years, I have asked over and over again, "What is education?"  What makes an "educated" person different from one who is "un-educated?"  If we ask 100 parents what benefit do they expect their children...

Since media everywhere are re-counting the events of 2017, we might as well join in.  Maybe I should call it the "Redneck Review." It was another year of running the roads as I drove more than 19,000 miles visiting educators and schools, from Bridgeport to Mobile. ...

It is that time of the year when we take a deep breathe and look back at the last 12 months as we wait for the holidays to wind down and football bowl games to end. So what did you good reader find most interesting on this little blog as judged by the number of "hits"...

Though it received scant attention, the state board of education took one action on Dec. 14 that was HUGE. This were their unanimous vote to remove the Selma City school system from state intervention. The vote took place after Dee Fowler, chief of staff for interim...

Dog gone if I know how it happened, but I am about to take in the sights and sounds of my 75th Christmas.  (Like you I'm sure, I didn't believe it either until I scratched it all out on a piece of paper.)  And I look forward to sharing with family next week in North...

Because his name was not Roy Moore. While it sounds overly simplistic, the primary reason Democrat Doug Jones stunned the political world in Alabama's Dec. 12 special election for U.S. Senate was because he was not the other guy. This is not to take anything away from...

I am a sucker for stories about out-of-the-way places.  So when I came across this excellent piece by Joseph Goodman of AL.com about tiny Sweet Water in Marengo County, I had to take a peek. The story was about this small 1A high school and their quest to win a state...

In "normal" times any article written in December with the head line above would be referring to the Christmas season.  But these are not "normal" times in Alabama as we are only two days away from ending the complete and absolute madness masquerading as a special...

The PDK poll of public attitudes about public schools has been a steady reflection of U.S. opinion since 1969.  It is the most trusted source of public opinion about K-12 education because of its rigor, depth and commitment to capturing all voices and viewpoints. And...

Vinny Chiaramonte teaches computer science at R. F. Bumpus middle school in Hoover.  He was recently named as the 2017 Milken Educator Award winner for Alabama. Making this all the more amazing is that Chiramonte was a high school dropout in the ninth grade in...

There are many places in Alabama we fondly describe as "you can't get there from here."  One that certainly fits this observation is Phil Campbell, a community of about 1,000 kindly souls tucked into the southeast corner of Franklin County. I became familiar with Phil...

It's the one day of the year when we are supposed to pause between visits with kin folks, swigs of sweet iced tea and bites of pecan pie to truly count our blessings.  To me this means truly reflecting for a while on how blessed most of us are and who plays a large...

Listen to Charles Foster Johnson speak for a few minutes and you're not surprised when you learn he is a Southern Baptist minister.  There is the tell-tale baritone full of enthusiasm and cheerfulness.  You know a good story may come forth at any moment.  I am...

Earlier this week, the good folks at Tuscaloosa's Rock Quarry Middle School invited local officials to come tour their school.  They also included one old writer from Montgomery. They especially wanted local legislators to stop by and get a firsthand look at what goes...

Tomorrow 90,000 people will cram into Jordan-Hare stadium on the Auburn University campus to watch Auburn play the University of Georgia.  It is the South's oldest football rivalry, going back to 1892 when Auburn won 10-0. It will be a spectacle  An orgy displaying...