2009 Summer - Alabama School Boards Magazine

In just 10 years, the Alabama Association of School

Boards’ Medicaid Administrative

Claiming and Direct Bill programs

have returned more than $87 million

to school boards that provide services

to Medicaid-eligible students.

Find out how to regain funding you’ve

already spent or bill for services you

already offer to eligible students.

Contact us at 800/562-0601 or

[email protected].

FEATURES

8 PRESIDENT’SPERSPECTIVEAcademics of yesterday are

not sufficient for today.

10 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’SPERSPECTIVESchools claim victories

in 2009 Legislative Session.

14 FACE TO FACESen. Rodger Smitherman is serving

his fourth term representing Senate

District 18 and took on his new role

as president pro tempore on Feb. 5 .

16 COVER STORY:CREATE CONDITIONSFOR STUDENT SUCCESSAASB launches Governing for

Achievement Project.

20 NAVIGATING ROUGHWATERS, SEEKING STUDENT SUCCESSAASB Summer Conference

July 26-28, 2009

Perdido Hotel

22 10 QUESTIONSCathy Gassenheimer’s favorite

two-word phrases are “best practices”

and “quality instruction.”

26 ALABAMA SCHOOL

BOARDS READERSHIPSURVEYTo ensure Alabama School Boards

magazine continues to be a key source

of valuable, relevant information,

we need your feedback.

28 THE PROMISEA perspective on setting student

standards and expectations by

Yung Thi Bui-Kincer, Alabama’s

2009-2010 Teacher of the Year,

IN EVERY ISSUE4 UP FRONT

6 EDUCATION & THE LAW

19 HELP

26 CALENDAR

29 PEOPLE & SCHOOLS

30 AT THE TABLEON THE COVER: graphic©istockPhoto.com

OFFICERSPRESIDENTSue Helms

Madison City

PRESIDENT-ELECTFlorence Bellamy

Phenix City

VICE PRESIDENTSteve Foster

Lowndes County

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENTJim Methvin

Alabama School of Fine Arts

STAFFEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Sally Brewer Howell, J.D.

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICERKen Roberts, C.P.A.

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONSDenise L. Berkhalter

DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONSLissa Astilla Tucker

DIRECTOR OF BOARD DEVELOPMENTLuAnn Bird

MEETING/MARKETING COORDINATORMandy Fernandez

MEMBERSHIP COORDINATORDebora Hendricks

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANTTammy Wright

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTDonna Norris

BOOKKEEPERKay Shaw

STAFF ASSISTANTLashana Summerlin

CLERICAL ASSISTANTBriana Baxter

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

DISTRICT 1

Stephanie Walker

Brewton

DISTRICT 2

Roxie Kitchens

Troy

DISTRICT 3

Jeff Bailey

Covington County

DISTRICT 4

Katy S. Campbell

Macon County

DISTRICT 5

Jennifer Parsons

Jefferson County

DISTRICT 6

Sue Jones

DISTRICT 7

Brett Whitehead

Tuscaloosa County

DISTRICT 8

Pam Doyle

Muscle Shoals

DISTRICT 9

Shelia Nash-Stevenson

STATE BOARD

Dr. Mary Jane Caylor

Huntsville

Alabama S chool Boards • Summer 2009 3

PUBLICATION POLICYAlabama School Boards is published by theAlabama Association of School Boards as aservice to its members. The articles publishedin each issue represent the ideas or beliefs ofthe writers and are not necessarily the viewsof the Alabama Association of School Boards.Subscriptions sent to members of schoolboards are included in membership dues,and complimentary copies are sent to publicschool principals throughout the state. Additional subscriptions can be obtained by contacting AASB.

Entered as third-class mail at Montgomery, AL. Permit No. 34.

Alabama School Boards is designed by J. Durham Design, L.L.C., Montgomery, AL.

Address all editorial and advertising inquiries to: Alabama School Boards, Editor, P.O. Drawer 230488, Montgomery, AL36123-0488. Phone: 334/277-9700 ore-mail [email protected].

InsideInside

12SCHOOL TAXES 101What Every BoardMember Should Know

12

SUMMER 2009

Vol. 30, No. 2www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org

24TUSCALOOSA COMMUNITY

COLLABORATES ON PRE-K

Tuscaloosa City Schools

and various community

organizations have joined efforts to

provide pre-kindergarten education

to help at-risk children get off to a

quick start when they begin school.

24

4 Alabama S chool Boards • Summer 2009

FOSTERFOSTER CHILD CHILD LEARNS LEARNS LIFE LIFE LESSON LESSONRussell County High School student Timothy Smith recently enjoyed an

honor only a select group of Alabama youngsters can claim. The 15-year-

old foster child served as a page for the Alabama Legislature, winning the

hearts of information specialist Ernestine Crowell, legislators and lobbyists.

“I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and Tim is the first page I’ve ever had

to go from office to office asking if anyone needed anything,” Crowell said.

“I have had people come ask for Timothy. He is already a V.I.P.”

Smith, who wants to be an auto mechanic someday, said the opportu-

nity was extra special since his social worker said he was hand-picked for the job. That’s a real

honor for a student who struggled below grade level but is now able to work alongside his

ninth-grade peers.

“I like to help people, and schools are good because they help us get an education. My teachers

have been good to me, helping me catch up in school,”said Smith, who has five younger siblings.

Serving as a page and having the support of his school has taught him important life lessons.

“This experience has taught me to live life to the fullest and don’t worry about what people

say,” Smith explained. “Make something out of yourself. Go to school. Help people. Do the right

thing. Don’t ever let anybody tell you that you can’t do something in life. You can do anything you

want to if you put your mind to it.”

&Trends,&Research DatesUPFRONT

ININ A A NUTSHELL: NUTSHELL:FederalFederal Stimulus Stimulus Funds Funds for for Title Title 1 1■■ Title I Defined — The intent of Title I is to provide supple-

mental, or additional, educational opportunities for disadvan-

taged children. This opportunity is extended through additional

funding streams to eligible school systems and schools. The

funding allows school systems the opportunity to purchase

resources above and beyond those provided by the state based

on community and student needs.

■■ Local Needs — School systems must use all Title I funds based

on the school’s assessment, which drives funding decisions. For

example, a system may determine that pre-K education is an

essential component for student success, so funding for pre-K

should be based on the needs of the Title I schools that serve the

community.

■■ Schoolwide and Targeted Assistance — In a schoolwide

program, all students attending the school benefit from the

services of Title I. School systems may elect to serve schools

with a poverty range of 40-74 percent poverty as a schoolwide

school, or they may also choose to serve them as a targeted

assistance school. A system may also choose to serve a school

with a minimum poverty of 35 percent as targeted assistance.

Only eligible students may be served in targeted assistance

schools, which means all students don’t receive the services of

Title I. School systems must serve schools with a poverty rate of

75 percent or greater.

■■ Accessing Federal Dollars — School systems must complete

an annual application and receive approval before accessing

federal dollars. While there is no timeline for application sub-

mission, access to funding is contingent on an approved appli-

cation. Funds are available Oct. 1 of each year, with the excep-

tion of American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funds, which

will be available for school system access when the updated

application is completed.

■■ What Boards Should Know — The state federal programs

section provides guidance and oversight to school systems in

the appropriate use of federal funds. It is important that school

boards are knowledgeable about the services provided by Title I

and the allowable use of funds to ensure that they do not

request or approve expenditures that do not meet federal

guidelines as outlined by the U.S. Department of Education.

Source: State Department of Education, Federal Programs; to learnmore contact the director, Dr. Deann K. Stone, [email protected].

Alabama School Boards ReceivesNSPRA Award of MeritThe Alabama Association of School Boards has received

a 2009 National School Public Relations Association

Award of Merit for Alabama School Boards and is the

only recipient of NSPRA’s 2009 Branding/Image

Packaging Award of Excellence.

Compiled by Eve Harmon & Denise Berkhalter

In May, the state Board of Education approved a plan that drops a week of the nearly two

weeks of testing students face in grades 3-8. Starting in 2009-2010, school systems will test

students in reading and math using the SAT-10 as part of the ARMT. Other

subtests used for state accountability purposes under the No Child Left

Behind Act will be optional but still provided to school systems at no

cost. The board also adopted a revamp of the state’s teacher

evaluation system. Officials describe EDUCATEAlabama as a

user-friendly, formative evaluation system that measures

teacher performance against the Alabama Quality

Teaching Standards. Read more online at

www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org under

“Publications, State Board News.”

Student Testing and Teacher Evaluations Streamlined

Timothy Smith


SAY WHAT?Attendees at a recent Alabama State University-

sponsored teacher job fair had this to say about

the profession:

“Teachers face so many

challenges — no good

mentor, a lack of sup-

port, and some teachers

just kind of burn out. But, I really

want to reach the

students, so they can perform

at their highest potential.”

— Adiliah Fisher-Grace, future teacher

“The retention rate is

a challenge. There's so

much pressure on the

teachers that come in.

They get so involved with coaching

and other extracurricular activities.

And, to be honest, teaching is tough.

We have teachers who are mothers

and fathers and counselors. They just

get so much on their plates. But they

stay because of their love for children.”

— Reginald Sparks of Phenix City,

principal of South Girard School

Alabama’s public high school graduates

for 2008-09 are estimated at 39,480

in the report, “Projections of Education

Statistics to 2017.”The National Center

for Education Statistics, nces.ed.gov,

projects a national 2008-09 class of

more than 3 million public school

graduates. Alabama graduated

45,286 in 1969-70, when there were

nearly 2.6 million public high school

graduates nationwide.

39,480BY THE NUMBERS

RuralRural Schools Schools Celebrate Celebrate Success SuccessWhat do you find in rural Alabama schools where student success is a priority?

You’re likely to see a qualified, dedicated and connected faculty; high expectations;

multiple avenues of communication; and schools that are the hub of their com-

munities. That’s according to the recent Alabama Department of Agriculture &

Industries’ Center for Rural Alabama report, Lessons Learned from Rural Schools.

The report looks at 10 high-performing, high-poverty rural elementary schools in

Mobile, Jackson, Wilcox, Cleburne, Covington, Escambia, Winston, Franklin,

Choctaw and Perry counties. The report also notes 90 percent or more poverty

among students in 78 of the 494 schools in rural Alabama. Call 334/240-7272 or

visit www.agi.alabama.gov for a copy.

The 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health, found at www.nschdata.org, reports that 16.6 percent of

students age 6-17 have repeated a grade in school at least once. Here is how Alabama compares to the nation.

Alabama % Nationwide %

Child Health Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84.6 84.4

children in excellent or very good health

Risk of Developmental or Behavioral Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.0 26.4

children age 4 months to 5 years determined to be at

moderate or high risk based on parents’ specific concerns

Developmental Screening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.1 19.5

children age 10 months to 5 years who received a standardized

screening for developmental or behavioral problems

Positive Social Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89.9 93.6

children age 6-17 who exhibit two or more positive social skills

Missed School Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5 5.8

children age 6-17 who missed 11 or more days of school in the past year

School Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79.5 80.5

children age 6-17 who are adequately engaged in school

Repeating a Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.6 10.6

children age 6-17 who have repeated at least one grade

Activities Outside of School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79.1 80.7

children age 6-17 who participate in activities outside of school

16.6% DID YOU KNOW?

‘FRIEND OF THE COURT’ Brief Submitted in Webb CaseAt the request of the Montgomery County Board of Education, the Legal Assistance Fund Board of Trustees

agreed to join the Cedric Webb v. Montgomery County Board of Education case by entering an amicus curia

(“friend of the court”) brief. At issue is the authority of the hearing officer to reopen prior disciplinary offenses

in the employee’s personnel record. The case is pending in the Alabama Supreme Court.

Because legal challenges are costly — not only to the school board

involved in a certain case but potentially to other boards facing similar

issues — the Alabama Association of School Boards’Legal Assistance Fund

supports school boards’common interests by assisting members involved

in cases of statewide significance. To learn more about LAF, which is

governed by its own board of trustees, contact AASB at

[email protected].

Children in cyberspace is an idea that

generates questions and concerns about

safety. A number of those issues were tackled

in December 2000, when Congress passed the

Children's Internet Protection Act or CIPA

he act addresses concerns about children’s access tooffensive content on the Internet via school and librarycomputers and is a part of a larger communications

statute — the Communications Act of 1934. Under this statute, every provider of interstate or inter-

national telecommunications service must pay a fee to “preserve and advance universal service.” This universalservice fee is pooled in the universal service fund, which issometimes called E-Rate. The fund is administered by theSchools and Libraries Division of the Universal ServiceAdministrative Co. — referenced in this article as “theadministrator” — which is overseen by the Federal Com-munications Commission or FCC.

The beauty of E-Rate is that eligible schools can receivediscounts to apply to their telecommunications services,Internet access and internal connections. To receive a dis-count, a school mustdetermine its eligibil-ity, complete a tech-nology plan, compet-itively bid and select aservice provider andsubmit an application(FCC form 471) before itreceives a decision onfunding from the admin-istrator. After the schoolreceives approval for fund-ing, the CIPA requirementsare triggered. That makesthe Children’s Internet Pro-tection Act a classic exampleof carrot-and-stick legislation.

The CarrotBesides protecting kids, complying with CIPA has an

added benefit for school systems: it saves money. This car-rot comes in the form of a discount — from 20-90 percentof the pre-discount price for all eligible services provided byeligible providers. In determining the amount of discount,the administrator considers:■ Poverty, which is determined by the school’s percentage

of enrolled students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch under the national school lunch program.

■ Whether the school is located in an urban or rural areaand whether the services are shared by other schools orlibraries. Rural areas typically receive deeper discounts than urban

areas. However, if half of a school’s students are eligible forthe national school lunch program, that school can receivean 80 percent discount, regardless ofwhether the school is in an urbanor rural area. If 75 percent ofthe student population iseligible for the nationalschool lunch program,the discount jumps to90 percent, making theurban/rural distinctionirrelevant.


EDUCATION & THE LAW

Protect Children in CyberspaceBy Jenna M. Bedsole

T

The Communications Act does not outline which serv-ices are eligible for the discounts but instead gives the FCCdiscretion to decide which services qualify for the dis-counts. Discounts do not apply to telephones, computers,software and training; the school must provide those. A listof eligible services is available on the Universal ServiceAdministrative Co.’s Web site: http://www.universalser-vice.org/sl/tools/eligible-services-list.aspx.

The StickTo get the discounts for Internet access or internal con-

nections — or the stick — is the school must make twocertifications on FCC Form 486. The certifications aredescribed in detail below:1. Establish and Enforce an Internet Policy

FCC Form 486 requires the school to certify that anInternet safety policy is being enforced. CIPA is specificabout what a school system must have in its Internetpolicy. Under CIPA, the system’s Internet policy must:(1) Have technology that specifically blocks or

filters Internet access by both adults and minors to visual depictions that are obscene or are child pornography;

(2) Have technology that specifically blocks or filters Internet access by minors to visual depictions that are harmful to minors;

(3) Monitor the online activities of minors; (4) Address “access by minors to inappropriate

matter on the Internet and World Wide Web;”(5) Address “the safety and security of minors when

using electronic mail, chat rooms, and other formsof direct electronic communications;”

(6) Address “unauthorized access, including so-called‘hacking,’ and other unlawful activities by minorsonline;”

(7) Address “unauthorized disclosure, use, and dissemination of personal information regardingminors;” and

(8) Include “measures designed to restrict minors’access to materials harmful to minors.”

Be sure your policy has all eight components, andunderstand that it is the school board’s responsibility todetermine what matter is not appropriate for minors. Thestatute also requires reasonable public notice about theInternet policy. A school should have at least one publichearing or meeting to address the proposed Internet safetypolicy.

2. Compliance Certification

The second certification on FCC Form 486 requires aschool to state it has complied with CIPA, is in the processof complying with CIPA or that CIPA does not apply

because it is only seeking funding for telecommunicationsservice. Without these two certifications, a school is noteligible for discount services.

Failure to ComplyYou have an Internet policy. You have the filter soft-

ware. Your parents and students certify they have read thepolicy and know what is allowed to be viewed on theInternet and what is not. You have trained your teachers,your administrators, your staff about your Internet policy.You get a call from a parent screaming about pornographyon one of the school’s computers. You investigate — theparent was right.

CIPA provides if a school submits the certifications but“knowingly fails” to follow through with them, the schoolmust reimburse any funds or discounts received for theperiod the school was not compliant. It is unlikely theadministrator would require reimbursement for the exam-ple above — if it was an isolated incident. Schools whichcertify they are compliant with CIPA but who have a wide-spread problem of Internet access to visuals that are harm-ful to minors, who fail to monitor the Internet activity ofstudents, or who have pervasive cyber-bullying should beconcerned. The administrator may require reimbursement.The statute allows a school to reestablish compliance bysubmitting evidence — including a certification it hasremedied the non-compliance — to the FCC, and theschool will be eligible for discounts again.

CIPA helps schools pay for the Internet access and services schools need to educate their students for thefuture. To receive those discounts, schools must have a

complete Internet policy. They must follow and enforce that policy so that students’ Internet use is safe. ■

Jenna M. Bedsole is a shareholder with Lloyd, Gray and

Whitehead in Birmingham and can be reached at jbed-

[email protected] or 205/313-2310.


The Children’s Internet Protection Act

helps schools pay for the Internet access

and services schools need to educate

their students for the future.

To receive those discounts, schools

must have a complete Internet policy

so that students’ Internet use is safe.


PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE

By Sue Helms, AASB President

s advocates for children and public education, we need tofully understand what’s at stake for our students as theyprepare for adulthood and the work force. Education

decision makers need to recognize and acknowledge that theacademics of yesterday are not sufficient for today. We mustprepare our students for their 21st century life ahead.

I am sure there are some who are not sure what it meansto prepare students for the 21st century. Is it more than assur-ing students are ready for the work force, that they can paythe bills, take care of their health and finances and be goodmembers of the community? In fact, there are many defini-tions of what “21st century skills” means. To some, they aresuch skills as problem solving, critical thinking, team work,creativity and adaptability. To many others, it’s the need formore science and math. Still, some believe it is just the use oftechnology in the learning process. I believe that 21st centuryskills should encompass preparing students with strong aca-demic skills; thinking, reasoning and teamwork skills; andproficiency in using technology. Experts say it is all of thesethings and much more.

Many of you remember the old story about the blind menand the elephant. Six blind men are asked to describe whatan elephant looks like by touching it. The blind man whofeels the leg says the elephant is like a pillar; the man whofeels the tail says the elephant is like a rope; the one who feelsthe trunk says the elephant is like a tree branch; the ear is likea fan; and the belly is like a ball. The point is each of the mendescribed his part accurately, but the parts didn’t add up to anelephant. 21st century skills cannot be described by just per-ception and suspicions. We, as school board members, needto research this concept to gain practical insight that will allowus to embrace our changing world.

So, what exactly is 21st century skills? The Partnership for21st Century Skills is a leading advocacy organizationfocused on infusing 21st century skills into education. The partnership brings together the business community,education leaders and policymakers to define a powerfulvision for 21st century education and to ensure that students emerge from schools with the skills needed to be effective citizens, workers and leaders in this modern-dayworld. The Partnership has identified six key elements of a 21st century education:

■■ Information and communication skills (media literacy skills);

■ Thinking and problem-solving (critical/systems thinking, problem identification, formulation/solution,creativity and intellectual curiosity);

■■ Interpersonal and self-direction skills (collaborative skills, self-direction, accountability/adaptability and social responsibility);

■■ Global awareness;

■■ Financial, economic and business literacy, and developing entrepreneurial skills to enhance workplace productivity and career options; and

■■ Civic literacy.

If you are new to 21st century thinking, this is a lot tograsp, and your next question is most likely “why do students even need 21st century skills?”

There is a profound gap between the knowledge andskills most students learn in school and the knowledge andskills they need in typical 21st century communities/work-places. To successfully face rigorous higher educationcoursework, career challenges and a globally competitivework force, schools must align classroom settings with realworld environments by infusing 21st century skills into theirinstruction and curriculum.

But, there is good news! 21st century skills can be incor-porated into what we are already teaching in the classroomand can be built into programs and curriculum we have inplace. After all, we are producing graduates who must havethe ability to put into practice skills learned to become suc-cessful in their college and workplace. Our responsibility isto ensure all students are prepared for the educational challenges presented to them after high school.

Academics of Yesterday Not Sufficient for Today

A

AASB President Sue

Helms, right,

recently met

National School

Boards Association

Immediate Past

President Barbara

L. Bolas of Penn-

sylvania. NSBA

and AASB support

efforts to equip

students with 21st

century skills.


What we do know is that traditional courses we teachnow will not be enough. We need to add more rigor andrelevance to the school day. Studies show that, when rigor-ous subject matter is combined with relevant 21st centuryskills, students are more engaged, and students who areinterested and challenged stay in school and perform well.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is a great resource foryou to begin learning more about the process of infusingthese skills into your curriculum. ■

n April 9, the state Board of Education recognized Madison City Schools as the first school system inAlabama selected to host a National School Boards

Association Technology + Learning (T + L) site visit. The boardlater presented the Madison Board of Education with a reso-lution commending and congratulating the school system “for this national recognition and for its use of technology toenhance instruction and learning.”

About 75 school technology and education leaders fromaround the country visited in March to tour Bob Jones High,Heritage Elementary, Liberty Middle, Columbia Elementaryand Discovery Middle schools in Madison for inspiration, ideasand to ask questions about the academic use of technologyand tech tools. NSBA Technology Leadership Network visitorsalso toured the state’s famed Hudson-Alpha Institute, RedstoneArsenal and NASA Teacher Resource Center.

Madison City Schools is a fast growing and high perform-ing school system serving more than 8,400 students in nineschools. The system provides students and teachers withopen-source computer labs, laptop labs, student works-tations in each classroom, interactive whiteboards, documentcameras and other emerging technologies in a safe computingenvironment.

Madison schools also serve as a regional support center forthe state’s ACCESS Distance Learning program. This statewideeducation initiative uses technology to provide high-qualityadvanced, core and elective classroom courses to studentswho might not otherwise have access to them.

Madison, whose board president is AASB President SueHelms, was one of only three school systems in the UnitedStates selected for the 2009 Education Technology Site Visits:Showcasing Technology Innovation.

Helms said the Madison school board is “committed to 21stcentury technology tools for our students and classrooms,” andshe believes “technology site visits are a great avenue of train-ing for any board member interested in acquiring in-depthknowledge about what works in schools.”

NSBA’s Technology Leadership Network brings schoolboard members, administrators and the school system tech-nology teams together to glean the best practices from othersystems and to make well-informed technology decisions. ■■

OMadison Hosts NSBA’s Technology Network Site Visit

(Right) Ann Flynn, director of educa-

tion technology for NSBA, poses under

the nose cone of the Saturn V during

the Madison City Schools Technology

Network Site Visit that included a

tour of Alabama's NASA Teacher

Resource Center. The event annually

showcases technology innovation

in schools across the nation.

(Below) One of 75 NSBA Tech-

nology Network Site Visit partici-

pants enjoys listening to audio

and talking technology with

students at Heritage Elementary

School in Madison. The annual

event tours select schools

nationwide. The tour of schools

in Madison was March 25-27.

(Above) Ann Flynn, far left, NSBA's education technology director,

joins other participants in the 2009 NSBA Technology Network Site Visit. Students

at Discovery Middle School discuss how they use laptops in their academic studies.

Photos courtesy

of Madison City

Schools.

May 15 brought a calm and productive end to the

2009 Regular Legislative Session, disguising the true

nature of 30 tumultuous legislative days.

he roller coaster ride included a one-day return to the his-toric Capitol due to a flash flood and bitter days of politi-cal feuding around gaming, repeal of the state’s grocery

tax and other controversial issues.K-12 education, however, ultimately fared well.

It was hard work involving collaboration with otherK-12 associations, but the Alabama Association ofSchool Boards won the fight for an education budgetin-tune with school board members’ priorities fortheir students. The challenge of interpreting how to spend the $513

million of federal stimulus funds from the American Recoveryand Reinvestment Act grew as regulations and rules changedalmost daily. However, the result was a much-improved $6.2billion education budget for schools enacted just in time forMay school board meetings to plan local budgets — a signifi-

cant victory for K-12. Lawmakers introduced many additional pieces of leg-

islation that affect public education, and AASB backed ahealthy number of bills that passed both chambers,including:

• Requiring school board member training policies;

• Providing budget flexibility for local school boards;

• Defining one-month reserve fund access;

• Expanding school boards’ banking options;

• Raising the school age to 17 to prevent

dropouts;

• Recompiling the competitive bid law for public education;

• Revising the school nurse law;

• Proposing a constitutional amendment to allow a simple majority to approve a 1-mill property school tax;and

• Requiring teacher program applicants to undergo back-ground checks.

Visit www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org for the final edition of Leg-Alert, which includes a detailed list of enactedlegislation.

Biggest Education Victories UnseenWhat you won’t see in the enactments are some of this ses-

sion’s biggest education victories — thanks to you and yourassociation’s tireless work behind the scenes and in the StateHouse hallways. It is what local school boards oppose andprevent from becoming law that can make a session hugelysuccessful. That was certainly the case this year, as AASB con-sistently opposed bills that either made for poor public policyor threatened to infringe on local school board autonomy andauthority. AASB successfully opposed a proposal to mandatewhen school starts; an attempt to allow home-schooled stu-dents to participate in public school athletics; and an effort tomove creationism into curriculum.

Some AASB-supported bills did not see action this year, butdon’t disregard them as our work continues to build politicalsupport for causes beneficial to Alabama’s schoolchildren. Oneissue to keep on the radar is Rep. Greg Canfield’s RollingReserve Budget Act, which AASB maintains is a common-senseapproach to the education budgeting process. (See more atwww.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org/IssueBriefs.htm).

Likewise, AASB believes changes are due for the educationemployee public health insurance program. Skyrocketinghealth care costs will force public education to re-examine theminimal contributions employees make for an exemplary ben-efit underwritten each year by the public.

More and more data about the problems local boards experience with the revised tenure and fair dismissal laws areamassing. As lawmakers hear from their school systems aboutthe abuses and waste caused by the current law, demand forchange grows. We would love to hear about your experienceswith arbitration and the tenure and fair dismissal laws ([email protected]).


EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PERSPECTIVE

By Sally Howell, J.D., AASB Executive Director

Schools Claim Victories in 2009 Legislative Session

T


What Lies Ahead?While school boards count the 2009 legislative session as a

big win, the scene in Montgomery changes year to year.Expect the face of the Legislature to change dramatically in thenext two years.

By the 2010 legislative session, three vacancies in the Sen-ate will be filled. Of course, the 2010 general election willmake its mark on the political climate when a new governoris elected. Speaker of the House Rep. Seth Hammett — recog-nized by those in the State House for bringing statesmanshipand stability to his chamber — has announced he will not seekre-election. Sen. Hank Sanders, a long-time friend of K-12 pub-lic education and chair of the Finance and Taxation, EducationCommittee, will not seek re-election. In addition, every legisla-

tor faces re-election in 2010, and a new quadrennium beginsin 2011.

There is no time to delay. School board members mustactively begin to build relationships with their local leaders.Survey your local political climate and relay to us any promis-ing and challenging education issues on the horizon. Invitepolitical leaders and those seeking office into your schools andeducate existing and future policymakers about public edu-cation’s successes and the need to support such progress. ■

What’s New?A number of new education-related bills cleared the 2009 Regular

Legislative Session. For a full list, see AASB’s enactments edition

of Leg-Alert.

■ BOARD MEMBER TRAINING — Requires each local board of

education to adopt a local policy for orientation and training

of board of education members.

■ DEFIBRILLATORS IN SCHOOLS — Requires that an automated

external defibrillator be placed in every public K-12 school in Alabama.

■ MANDATORY SCHOOL AGE — Increases to 17 the age of children

required to attend school and establishes procedures and guidelines

for school withdrawal; creates a dropout prevention and recovery fund

and provides for the collection and reporting of related data.

■ SEX OFFENDERS AND SCHOOL CAMPUSES — Prohibits sex offenders

from loitering within 500 feet of school bus stops.

■ SCHOOL NURSES — Allows for the employment of registered nurses

as well as licensed practical nurses in Alabama public schools.

■ AGE FOR DRIVER’S LICENSE — Creates a system for increasing

the age at which a person is eligible to apply for a driver’s license

if the person, over the age of 12 years and a student in a public

or private school, was subject to habitual school punishment

for an infraction committed on school property.

■ RESERVE FUNDS — Allows local boards of education to expend

their reserve funds if certain conditions are met.

■ FLEXIBILITY — Allows local boards of education to have the

flexibility to transfer funds between and among line items in

the Education Trust Fund during proration.

■ TEACHER BACKGROUND CHECKS — Institutions of higher education

in the state shall require each applicant for admission to a teacher

preparation program to complete a criminal history background

information check as a part of the initial application process.

AASBcelebrates the new School Board Member Training Legislation

and thanks sponsors Rep. Jeremy Oden and Sen. Ted Little for

ushering it through the 2009 Regular Legislative Session.

The bottom-line responsibility of school boards is to govern in a way that

improves student achievement. One way to better equip school board members

for this task is to set a board policy outlining board member orientation and ongo-

ing training requirements.

The new state law (ACT No. 2009-297), which takes effect March 1, 2010,

doesn’t bind school boards. It simply states:

Each local public board of education shall adopt a policy for the orientation

and ongoing training of members of its local board of education.

Some school systems may already have such a policy and only need to review

and/or retool their policies. To guide the others, AASB will provide sample policies

for boards to review.

The driving force behind the law is that training makes school board members

more effective. Research demonstrates that quality board member training corre-

lates with higher student achievement.

Once a school board member is appointed or elected, that person must

quickly become familiar with the demands to govern a complex and sophisticated

education system. Such work requires familiarity with:

• Best practices for student learning;

• Local, state and federal education requirements and school finance;

• Employment law and the open meetings law;

• Student health and school safety;

• Ethics and public relations; and

• Much, much more.

Because each school board may adopt a policy of its choosing, the law

respects local autonomy and avoids a one-size-fits-all mandate. A local policy

outlining professional development for board members, however, does reflect the

board’s commitment to govern effectively and improve student achievement.

School Board MemberTraining Now Law

ONON THE THE WEB WEB■ 2010 Education Budget as Enacted

www.lfo.state.al.us/budget-fiscal.htm

■ AASB's Leg-Alert, 2009 Enactments Edition,www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org/LegAlert.htm

TheThe Big Big Three ThreeIt is vital that board members understand how taxes are used

to fund school system operations, as well as their unique localtax structure. All school systems depend on taxes as the primaryfunding source for their operations. In addition, taxes levied forschool purposes vary greatly among school systems in amountand composition (i.e. sales versus property taxes). It’s alsoimportant to know that the more a system relies on sales tax asa source of local revenue, the more they are susceptible to dra-matic shifts in the economy.

The key is to understand your tax structure and use thatknowledge to employ sound financial strategies that facilitateeffective fiscal governance.

So, are you ready for lesson one? OK, let’s discuss the bigthree. The largest tax sources for education are income, salesand property taxes.

$$ Income Tax — Income tax is the primary funding source foryour state Education Trust Fund allocation but is not a com-ponent of your system’s local revenue base.

$$ Sales Tax — Sales taxes are included in the state EducationTrust Fund allocation and may be a part of your local rev-enue picture.

$$ Property Tax — Property taxes affect both your state and localfunding, though dedicated for different purposes.

Let’s focus on the tax sources that affect state funding. Stateallocations from the Education Trust Fund comprise about 60 to80 percent of your budget. So proportionately the state income

tax makes up over half of a system’s state allocation. Almost theentire amount of both individual and corporate income tax col-lected statewide is earmarked for the Education Trust Fund.

Similarly, the state sales tax is primarily earmarked for theEducation Trust Fund. Sales tax comprises approximately one-fourth of your total state allocation. To put that in perspective,almost one-half of the total sales tax rate paid by consumers isincluded in the trust fund.

Conversely, state-levied property taxes are not earmarked foroperations; however, the 3-mill property tax that makes upalmost one-half of the state property tax is accounted for in thePublic School Fund. The Public School Fund is earmarked forschool construction purposes and is a separate allocation out-side of the Foundation Program, Alabama’s process for fundingK-12 schools. It is important to note that a particular system’sPublic School Fund allocation may already be fully or partiallypledged to existing debt service for previous capital projects.

VolatileVolatile and and Hefty HeftyFrom an individual taxpayer perspective, practically all of

your state income tax, almost one-half of your sales tax andabout 6 to 12 percent of your property tax is included inyour school system’s state allocation. From a local board per-spective, it’s important to remember that these sources ofrevenue, with the possible exception of property tax, are


SCHOOL TAXES 101WHAT EVERY BOARD MEMBER SHOULD KNOWBy Ken Roberts, AASB Chief Operating Officer

igging under teacher lounge couch cushions? Traipsing the school-

yards with hand-held metal detectors searching for coins? Thinking

about selling leftover PTA bake-sale goodies on eBay? Hey, we

understand that urge to pinch pennies in times like these. It’s tough.

What’s even tougher is wading through difficult school finance decisions

when you don’t clearly understand school funding. Never fear. Alabama

Association of School Boards is here to help .

Confession: This may not be absolutely everything boards should know

about the taxes that make up education funding, but the information here

will guide you in the right direction. If you have any questions or want to

know more, don’t hesitate to call AASB. We can even customize training

just for you, as you tackle tax referendum issues or map out how to best

spend limited dollars to improve student achievement. In the meantime,

let’s talk about school taxes.

DD

photo©istockPhoto.com


volatile and comprise 60 to 80 percentof your system budget.

Since on average proration — acrossthe board cuts — of the Education TrustFund occurs every 3 to 4 years, carefulplanning for the seemingly inevitabledecline in revenue is crucial to maintain-ing adequate resources to ensure contin-ued student success.

AA Local Local Look LookNow, let’s take a more detailed look at

a system’s local tax sources.The amount of locally generated rev-

enue can vary dramatically across schoolsystems. Specifically, local revenue com-prises anywhere from around 10 percentto more than 50 percent of school systembudgets. The challenge for local systemleaders is to not only know that percent-age and specific details of local revenuesources, but to also understand the impactit has on fiscal governance.

The primary sources of local revenuefor a school system are property tax andsales tax. Most systems receive variousother local revenues, such as manufac-tured home registration fees, beer tax dis-tributions, local government appropria-tions (i.e., city council or county commis-sion) or even in-lieu of tax sources fromagencies such as the U.S. Forestry Serviceor Tennessee Valley Authority. Thesesources generally make up a relativelysmall portion of local revenue, thoughexceptions to that trend do exist.

Why is it important for a school systemleader to know the system’s local revenuesources and relative budget impact ofthose sources? Consider this example.Does your local revenue base depend pri-marily upon sales tax or property tax? Theanswer to that question would createunique challenges in dealing with theinevitable shifts in the economy.

TaxTax Expiration Expiration Dates DatesNow, on to local property tax revenue.

Property taxes comprise about 51 percentof local revenue statewide. However, thatpercentage can vary greatly amongschool systems. Amendment 778 to thestate Constitution mandates a minimum of10 mills in property taxes be levied on

behalf of every school system. The 10-millminimum represents a “local match” inorder to participate in the state Founda-tion Program. There are a few systemsthat have only the minimum 10 millslevied, while others have in excess of 50mills levied for school purposes.

There are five separate local propertytax levies authorized by law that total 15mills. A system can levy taxes that exceedthe 15 mills, but would need a constitu-tional amendment to authorize the addi-tional millage. Each levy is subject to spe-cific requirements with separate constitu-tional requirements for enactment orrenewal in areas such as public notice,public hearings, legislative involvementand majority required for approval in alocal election.

Your superintendent should know theproperty taxes currently levied on behalfof their system under Section 269 of theConstitution (1 mill) and amendments 3(two separate 3-mill levies), 202 (5 mills),and 382 (3 mills) and any dates of expira-tion of those levies, as applicable. Theyshould have a general understanding ofthe timeline involved with a renewal ornew levy due to the various requirementsreferred to above.

Understanding the specific require-ments that create the timeline is crucial toany property tax initiative. Local propertytaxes are levied for specific periods oftime (not to exceed 30 years, generally),often to coincide with the issuance ofdebt for a specific or general purpose.

TurbulentTurbulent Sales Sales Tax TaxLet’s talk about local sales tax. Sales tax

comprises about 26 percent of local rev-enue statewide. However, specific systemsmay have no sales tax levied on theirbehalf, or they may have up to andexceeding a 2-cent sales tax for publiceducation. Local sales taxes for educationare generally levied by county commis-sions and municipalities, though localgovernments can call for an election ofqualified voters to authorize the levy of asales tax. Sales taxes can be for general orspecific purposes, as long as it is a publicschool purpose. They also can be tempo-rary in duration or earmarked for a spe-

cific project to expire upon completion ofthe project. If an election is called, thecounty commission or municipality wouldhold and bear the cost of the election.

Similar to local property taxes, educa-tion leaders should know the various salestaxes levied on behalf of their school sys-tems and the specific nature of those salestaxes. It is important to remember thatlocal sales taxes may experience the samevolatility during economic cycles thatimpacts state sales tax in the EducationTrust Fund.

SchoolSchool Tax Tax Focus FocusTo summarize, school leaders should

primarily focus on the state and local lev-els of school taxes.

At the state level, state income and salestax comprise most of the Education TrustFund, which funds up to 80 percent of alocal board’s operations. These revenuesources are volatile, so planning strategi-cally for the inevitable expansion and con-traction of the Education Trust Fund is veryimportant. Further, a portion of the stateproperty tax is distributed to local schoolsystems through the Public School Fundand, thus, earmarked for capital outlay —though flexibility in expenditure of thesefunds can be granted through the stateBudget Appropriations Act.

At the local level, each school systemhas a unique combination of local taxes thatmake up their local revenue base. It is vitalto understand the details of the revenuesources and employ proactive, sound fiscalstrategies to ensure that your local tax struc-ture continues to support your goals andobjectives through all economic cycles. ■■

ARE YOU INTERESTED?Is your school system receiving

every local dollar it should under

applicable laws, regulations and

tax-sharing agreements? AASB is

developing its new STAR Service

— School Tax Audit and Review

— to give school leaders that added assurance

about local revenue. Please let us know if you’re

interested in learning more about STAR. Call Ken

Roberts at 800/562-0601 or e-mail kroberts@

AlabamaSchoolBoards.org.

Ken Roberts


all him Sen. Rodger Smitherman or president pro temporeof the Alabama Senate — he’ll answer to either one.

Smitherman, who is serving his fourth term representingSenate District 18, took on his new role as president pro tem-pore on Feb. 5 after Sen. Hinton Mitchem resigned the post.

The second African American elected president pro tem-pore, Smitherman is now the highest ranking member of thechamber and presides over the Senate in the absence of thelieutenant governor, who serves as Senate president.

AASB member and Birmingham Board of Education Presi-dent April Williams is acquainted with Smitherman, his civicwork and his other contributions to the city and its surround-ing communities. The two met face to face to discuss the polit-ical climate for public education in Alabama. Below is conver-sation that represents the latest installment in the AlabamaSchool Boards magazine series that connects members ofAASB’s Leader to Leader grassroots network with key leadersin politics and education.

▲ Williams: What could public education leaders do to assistelected officials in understanding the need of K-12? Tell mehow we can help you in identifying what the greater needis and the priorities are for K-12.

◆ Smitherman: If you have nine systems like the Birminghamboard and if you have nine members, then each member haslegislators in their districts. You can make their job a lot eas-ier. If you just do that — for example, have an overall meet-ing where you invite somebody to a luncheon — you cancapture their attention and reinforce the issues. You explainit, and we understand it; then we’ll act on that part. Com-munication, communication, communication. That’s the key.

▲ Williams: You’ve been very liberal in your support of Birm-ingham Public Schools. What are legislators looking forwhen school boards come to them to discuss the needs intheir school systems?

◆ Smitherman: Make them a part of the project. You know,whether it’s informing them or meeting with them about theproject or just informing them about the kickoff or dedica-tion of a project that has already been formed. The moreyou immerse elected officials in an interchange with theirconstituents, the better off it is and the more of a bondingthey have in taking on the cause. It gives them a true senseof ownership.

▲ Williams: AASB co-hosted a pre-K advocacy forumrecently to recognize the importance of early childhoodeducation. If you could wave a magic wand, what wouldbe the Legislature’s part in identifying funding and appro-priations for pre-K?

◆ Smitherman: What you have to do is identify a continu-ous funding stream and either tap a new stream or divertrevenues from another source, in part, for that purpose.As a legislative body and as budget committees, we needto be able to identify that money, so it will be there on astable basis.

I participate in an education committee, as well, and itwas brought to our attention that the learning process startswith the child in the womb. When you start reading, and ifyou continue this process, then that child is going to bevery successful and very prepared to go through the wholeacademia arena. I always go back to relating this to coach-ing. Several years ago, you had certain sports in elementaryschool to prepare them for when they went to high schoolto play. Basketball is for fourth- and fifth-graders, so whenthey went to middle school, they were better prepared.After middle school, they were better prepared when theywent to junior varsity and then to varsity. Now, you havekids that are not introduced to basketball until they’re in theseventh grade, which means that seventh-grader now is justlike that fourth-grader back then trying to learn the skills ofbasketball. So, now when they get to high school, they

FACE TO FACE

By April Williams, Birmingham Board of Education President

Sen. Rodger Smitherman

“The one

central thing

to understand

is you're a servant

of the people.

It’s not about

individuals, but

about the whole.”

— Sen. Rodger M. Smitherman

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won’t be as prepared as they could have been if they hadbeen participating in basketball in elementary school. It’sjust the same process with the learning experience. The ear-lier we get them to start, the better it will be.

▲ Williams: K-12 public education and higher educationclearly have a passion for the well-being of all students. Yet,when funding is low, it seems the dwindling pot of moneyputs the two at odds. How do we prevent that situation?

◆ Smitherman: It’s difficult to avoid the fact that those bod-ies, because they’re education, are competing for the fundsout of that one pot. You’re not going to be able to elimi-nate that. What you don’t want to happen is what exists ina lot of states. They have one budget — the EducationTrust Fund’s money and the General Fund money wouldbe in one budget. So, we’re really in the best situation rightnow, having this money to be isolated in a separate budgetfor education.

▲ Williams: Not all school systems have adequate funding.How could we as board members identify or tap into statefunds or otherwise secure additional funding for specialprojects?

◆ Smitherman: Generally, these should go through the budg-eting process. What you can do to get additional funds isgo back to your legislators who have the ability to tap intogrants. Because many legislators represent a multitude ofsystems, most people don’t understand that many of themare saying the same thing. Right at the beginning of yourapproach, you have to put your priorities and needs outthere, and then implement what we’re talking about.

There needs to be a more coordinated effort. Some ofthe same work that we have to do in trying to get projectsfunded and done, is the same work that the board mem-

bers should be doing as it relates to the school. They can’tmake those decisions that we make in Montgomery, butthey serve functions that are necessary to implementing.

There also needs to be more of an effort, I think, byboard members to contact corporations — and people highenough in corporations to make decisions — about provid-ing funding for special projects. So, when you’re looking atbuilding a concert hall at a high school or a music hall,that’s where you can go. That’s where a partnership comesin with your other elected officials. Set up a meeting for youall to attend, along with your county commissioners andyour legislators. Talk to these people. Sometimes, for what-ever reason, people want to do things alone, but we needto be engaged from the very beginning.

You know, it might be nice to have home rule, and weshould. That’s a different conversation for a different day,but we don’t. So, when you don’t, you’ve got to deal withMontgomery. You can’t accomplish what you want inde-pendently. The one central thing to understand is you’re aservant of the people. It’s not about individuals, but aboutthe whole. The reason for the season is the people. Onceyou recognize that, it becomes easier.

▲ Williams: What words of caution do you have for boardsabout federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Actstimulus funding, deep education budget cuts due to pro-ration and education budgeting?

◆ Smitherman: Use the stimulus money to maintain the lev-els of where you are now. Don’t see it as money that youcan use to enhance to the point where once that money’sgone, you have to figure out how to keep that moneygoing. The money is only going to be there three or fouryears. After that, it’s gone. Tough times are coming. Evenmore than what they are now and before good times start.We’ve got about two more years of real tough times, thenwe’ll start moving forward, I think. You’ve got to havemoney in place that you can use to maintain the level ofwhat you’re doing.

▲ Williams: It would be good to take some of your existingfunding stream, divert that and use those dollars to supportyour day-to-day human resources or real capital funding.

◆ Smitherman: Support people. Keep the school clean.Keep driving your buses. Keep your cafeteria people. Youhave to keep all that in place.

▲ Williams: Or even to modernize your facilities and bringthem up to 21st century classrooms. This year, we could doit and that would last us for 10 to 15 years. Do you haveanything else you want to share with school board mem-bers across the state?

◆ Smitherman: I really want to tell them that I think theyhave a very tough job — just like we do. It’s a tough job,

ABOUT SEN. RODGER M. SMITHERMAN

Born in Montgomery and a Birmingham resident; educated in Shelby County

Schools, where his mother was the system’s first black principal, and graduated

from the University of Montevallo and with honors from Miles Law School

with a juris doctorate; a member of the Alabama Lawyers Association, the

Alabama Trial Lawyers Association, Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and

the Birmingham Bar Association, More Than Conquerors Faith Church

(Presbyterian); and married to Carole, father of Rodger II, Tonya Renee,

Mary Elaine and Crystal Nicole.

What he does: Senate President Pro Tempore, who has served in the Alabama

Senate since 1994 (District 18); practicing attorney and a law professor at

Miles Law School.

Committees: Local Legislation No. 2 (Chairperson); Banking and Insurance; Busi-

ness and Labor; Confirmations; Constitution, Campaign Finance, Ethics

and Elections; Finance and Taxation, Education; Industrial Development and

Recruitment; Judiciary; Rules; and Tourism and Marketing.

Contact him: 205/322-3768 or 205/322-0012; rodger.smitherman

@alsenate.gov(Continued on page 19)


The National School Boards Associationpublication Raising the Bar: A SchoolBoard Primer on Student Achievementnotes board action sets the school sys-

tem’s vision, establishes the learning environment,ensures accountability is exercised and creates vitalcommunity connections.

The report emphasizes the school board’s fund-amental role to lead their school systems to higherlevels of student achievement. “To provide suchleadership,” wrote authors Gerald W. Bracey andMichael A. Resnick, “local school boards must first establish student achievement as their highestpriority.”

Yet, the squeaky wheel gets the oil, as the saying goes. There are school boards, however well-intentioned, that spendfar too much time tending to day-to-day operationssuch as personnel andfacilities.

For those mired-in school boards, it’s time to refocus. In January 2009, the Alabama Association ofSchool Boards launched its Governing for Achieve-ment Project, funded in part through a $60,000 stateDepartment of Education grant, to help boardsdevelop a clear student improvement agenda.

“School boards bear a serious responsibilitywhen it comes to quality learning,” said AASB Exec-utive Director Sally Howell. “Our Governing forAchievement Project brings key educational leaderstogether in pursuit of a full-board training programthat leads to research-based school board gover-nance practices, high-level student performanceand reengaged communities.”

AASB has partnered with the state Department of Education, the School Superintendents ofAlabama and the A+ Education Partner-ship’s Best Practices Center to createthis two-year training boot camp forboard-superintendent leadership teams.

School boards can literally impact student performancesimply by focusingon what truly matters — student achievement.

Researchers sayboards can take steps to create theconditions necessaryfor achievement initiatives to flourish.

AASB LAUNCHES GOVERNING FOR ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM

By Denise L. Berkhalter

The Board’s Role in Improving Student LearningIn high-achieving school systems, the leadership team creates the conditions necessary to generate results.

Those conditions include continuous improvement and shared decision-making, knowing what it takes to

change achievement, shared leadership, staff development, workplace support, community involvement

and a balance between systemwide direction and building-level autonomy. Beyond creating conditions

for success, boards in high-achieving systems set clear expectations, hold the system accountable,

learn as a board team and connect with the community to build public support for student success.Source: The Iowa Lighthouse Project, www.ia-sb.org. Graphics revised from artwork ©istockphoto.com


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Training and research began in March in the first ofeight school systems chosen for their diverse demo-graphics and interest. Six of the pilot sites are grant-funded — the boards of education in Brewton, MuscleShoals and Tarrant cities and in Elmore, Montgomeryand Perry counties. Two boards, Cullman and MadisonCounty, will pay a $3,000 fee to participate.

The project uses research based on the Iowa SchoolBoards Association Lighthouse Project’s findings aboutschool boards in high-performing school systems. TheLighthouse project began in 1998 and continues with atwo-year effort to expand the research into multiplestates, including Alabama. Iowa trains state trainers onthe school board’s role in improving student learning;key board performance areas; and the knowledge andskills board members need to improve performance.

Alabama’s project runs through March 2011 and isoverseen by a 14-member team that consists of boardmembers, superintendents and representatives ofAASB, A+, SSA and the state education department.

The project’s wide-range scope extends to boardsstatewide and fits neatly intoAASB’s new strategic plan that officiallylaunches July 1.

“Our board adopted AASB’s strategicplan in March, and one of our strategiesobviously deals with board training,” Howellsaid. “So, we’ve embraced the Lighthouseresearch.”

Assistant State Superintendent of Education CraigPouncey, in the administrative and financial servicesdivision, was among the “education community” mem-bers asked to help AASB craft its strategic plan.

An idea hit during a discussion of stateinitiatives to improve student achieve-ment and the board’s role.

“It was an aha moment.I realized that this is an oppor-tunity to help school boardmembers, who are respon-sible for the distributionof $5.5 billion, under-stand the real focusneeds to be onmaking sure

(Continuedon page 18)


we’re providing quality instruction inthe classroom,” Pouncey said.

Pouncey said the ante was upped bythe recently enacted School Board Train-ing Act that requires each school board toadopt a policy for board member orienta-tion and training.

“Our new board training bill that hasjust been passed heightens the need for amore instructionally focused training ofour school board members,” he said.

Howell explained that AASB will useexisting case studies and the pilot projectto identify research-based practices as abasis for creating school board standardsand measures.

“We’ll take a look at our AASB SchoolBoard Member Academy curriculum anduse those standards and measures toretool our current training programs andto link recognition and awards to boardteams whose practices make a differencein the lives of students,” she said.

Existing full-board training will also be aligned with those research-based stan-dards. And, boards participating in the pilotproject will share what they’ve learned with peers at events such as AASB’s 2009Summer Conference in late July.

“The training we’re doing with theseeight pilot sites will eventually serve as amodel for other school boards across thestate,” said project leader and AASBBoard Development Director LuAnnBird. “By impacting the conditions thatimprove student achievement throughboard leadership, we can ultimatelyimprove graduation rates, raise studentproficiency, boost 21st century skilldevelopment and reduce achievementgaps.”

Bird joined AASB in 2008 after con-ducting similar training in Wisconsin. Shehas been trained in techniques based onIowa Lighthouse Project data, which iden-tified the essential leadership skills exhib-ited by boards in high-achieving schoolsystems.

“This project will change perceptionsabout school boards’ ability to raiseachievement in Alabama,” Bird said.“Boards will learn how to provide leader-ship in their school systems in a way thatsupports improved student performance.”

Gaining those results takes a coordi-nated effort from the entire school system.

Administrators and faculty must partic-ipate in surveys, research trends in stu-dent data and gauge the learning andworking climate. Board-superintendent

teams engage in more than 30 hours oftraining built around 11 training moduleswithin the following areas:

■ Orientation & FoundationCommit to High Expectations andImproved Instruction for All; Under-stand the Board’s Role in StudentAchievement; and Gain Clarity on theCurrent Status of Student Learning inAlabama and Your School System.

■ Improvement WorkEstablish a Systemwide LeadershipContinuum; Create a Clear, NarrowFocus for Improving Student Learning;Understand and Monitor Your SchoolSystem’s Work Culture; Support Pro-fessional Development; Define Imple-mentation, Monitoring and CorrectiveAction; and Implement, Monitor andTake Corrective Action.

■ Embedding Improvement in the CultureBuilding the Community Connectionand Deliberative Policy Development.

Through AASB training, everythingfrom planning and policy to professionaldevelopment and new board member

Learn How to Govern for AchievementThough it’s too late to participate in AASB’s

Governing for Achievement

pilot project, AASB offers customized,

research-based multi-session training

designed to help boards improve

achievement. We’ll even bring the

training to you. Contact LuAnn Bird at

[email protected]

or 800/562-0601 to find out about:

• Governing for Higher Student

Achievement

• Defining Board/Superintendent

Expectations

• Team Building for Effective Boardmanship

• Board Meetings that Matter

• Governance and Ethics

• Clarifying the Difference Between

Governance and Operations

Pilot Project PioneersSchool boards participating in AASB’s Governing for Achievement Pilot Project include:

Board Enrollment Eligible for Students Graduation Grade 4 ARMT Grade 4 ARMT Free or Reduced- of Color Rate at Level IV at Level IVPrice Meals (%) (%) (%) Reading (%)** Math (%)**

Brewton 1,295 31.74 40.5 86 57.6 50.0

Cullman* 2,768 29.19 10.7 90 37.4 33.9

Elmore County 10,808 42.87 29.1 87 7.0 6.8

Madison County* 19,146 27.05 26.0 86 4.4 3.6

Montgomery County 31,596 67.79 83.5 77 1.7 1.8

Muscle Shoals 2,699 29.16 20.6 94 29.1 27.4

Perry County 1,999 99.95 99.0 89 23.6 29.1

Tarrant 1,371 86.65 85.0 78 23.5 37.8

* These school boards paid a $3,000 fee to participate, and the others are fully-funded through a two-year state Department of Education grant.

** Data as of the 2007-2008 academic year, available at www.alsde.edu. The Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test assesses students’

mastery of state academic content standards in reading and mathematics. Students who reached Level IV exceeded content standards.

In high-achieving systems, boards set high expectations and believe success is possible for all students.

Create Conditions for Student Success

Continued from page 17

orientation will help create better outcomes for students.There are other rewards at the end of this journey. The Gov-

erning for Achievement Project aligns with state Department ofEducation standards, which means licensed superintendents,administrators and teachers will receive credit toward profes-sional learning units. Participating school board members willearn AASB academy hours, and boards will work more closelywith their superintendents because of the delineation of roles andresponsibilities.

“We really do have to work on team development betweenboards and superintendents,” said Hank Jones, a member of theachievement project oversight committee and coordinator of theSchool Superintendents of Alabama’s mentorship program.

“We have to build, as part of this process, that strong workingrelationship, so the board clearly understands — whether thesuperintendent was employed by them or elected by the people— the superintendent runs the day-to-day operations of the schoolsystem. They should clearly understand that the board is there toset policy and to build a program that is going to provide for student success,” Jones said.

Cullman Superintendent Dr. Janet Harris is excited that her sys-tem is participating in the training.

“Everyone is extremely interested in seeing a revelation abouthimself or herself, so what makes this training so attractive is thatit’s personalized,” Harris said. “When we went through it, LuAnnbrought up test scores and data that were unique to Cullman. Itmade the training personal and real.” ■


FEEDBACK SO FARAASB’s Governing for Achievement Project is preparing policymakers in seven

school systems to take actions that create conditions for student success.

So far, here is what participants have said they have learned.

• We need effective teachers in the classroom.

• Think beyond the day’s crisis. Put heavy emphasis on vision, values

and motivation.

• Hold the superintendent and system accountable.

• Set a clear goal for student achievement and provide resources to

meet the goal.

• All students can learn with the right leadership.

• Narrow the focus and understand the data.

• Listen, plan and monitor.

• Staff development is crucial.

• We need to understand accountability and how to analyze data and set goals.

ON THE WEB■ Iowa Lighthouse Project

http://www.nsba.org/MainMenu/Governance/KeyWork/Research/Lighthouse-project.aspx

■ Effective Schools: Effective School Boards http://www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org/PresentationsandResources.html

T

grant.

Q.What is the law regarding hiring relatives of the

superintendent or board members?

A.A May 19, 2008, attorney general’s opinion found that

the state’s anti-nepotism law under section 41-1-5 of

the Alabama Code does not prohibit employment of a

board member’s relative within the fourth degree as

long as the related board member doesn’t participate

in the decision-making proceedings.

The attorney general also explains a superintendent,

who refrains from the board’s decision-making proceed-

ings, may recommend a relative within the prohibited

degree along with at least one other equally qualified

person. This allows the board to choose among equally

qualified job candidates.

Appointments that violate the anti-nepotism statute

are void, and violators face a misdemeanor punishable

by up to $500 in fines and/or up to a year behind bars.

Because this process conflicts with the ethics law, confer

with your school board attorney.

—Denise L. Berkhalter

Help.

and we have limited resources. And, you’re trying to provideone of the most important services that you can for people— education. It’s tough making those decisions, and it’stough managing and balancing the need to have quality edu-cation with limited dollars.

Overall, you all do a good job. I think you talk about theapproach you want to take and how to do it. You’re goingto have to make some tough decisions, and some of thedecisions won’t be popular. But, it will be the right decisionin terms of the future of our kids. You can’t take your eyesoff of what’s right and what’s best for our children and fortheir development and educational advancement as you pre-pare them to move into the 21st and 22nd centuries. You allkeep doing that, and if you do that, I think you all are goingto be all right.

I always say that I try to operate off one premise, evenas a legislator, and that’s simply this: What is right and whatis wrong. I try to know the difference between those twoand do what I think is the right thing to do. Sometimes itmakes you popular, sometimes it doesn’t. In the end, it’sthe right thing. ■

Face to Face: Sen. Rodger SmithermanContinued from page 15


Schools are facing tough economic times. As leadersfor public education, boards and superintendentsneed to navigate through rough waters to help all

students succeed. Don’t miss the Alabama Associationof School Boards’ July 26-28 Conference,

“Navigating RoughWaters, Seeking StudentSuccess.” Earn up to 8.5 credit hoursin AASB’s School Board Member Academy. At this conference,

map your course to:

✥ Learn how to stretch your stimulus dollars.

✥ Make a difference in your board service.

✥ Understand theleadership, policies and

support needed to createan effective school system.

✥ Stay informed on key federal legislative issues.

July 26-28, 2009Perdido Hotel • Orange Beach, Ala.


Hear from the ExpertsLife is Short... Go Long for Education

TIM CUSACKMotivator, trainer, andpublic speaker shareshis funny presentationthat dares participantsto make the most of board service in the midst of makingtough choices.

Steering a Course to Student Success

DR. CRYSTALKUYKENDALLEducator, attorney andpresenter will conducttwo in-depth sessionsfor boards — enhanc-ing student perform-

ance and being a positive policymaker.

Stretching Your Stimulus Dollars/Federal Legislative Updates

MICHAEL RESNICKNational School BoardsAssociation associateexecutive director will explain how tostretch your school system’s stimulus

dollars and will offer the latest detailson key congressional issues.

Valuable Bonus SessionsA first for AASB, opt to enjoy valuablebonus training sessions that address education law issues, including thosedifficult personnel decisions. Breakoutsfeaturing speakers from the AlabamaCouncil of School Board Attorneys runfrom 1:30 until 3 p.m. Monday, July 27. Plan to also participate in AASB’s second annual Sand Castle BuildingCompetition, a fun-filled team-buildingexercise set for 7:15 p.m. July 26.

School Board Attorneys ConferenceJuly 26-27The Alabama Council of School BoardAttorneys, a component of AASB, pres-ents its summer workshop in conjunctionwith the AASB Summer Conference. Hearthe latest developments in education law. This event is presented by ACSBA for members of ACSBA. Conferenceattendees may earn CLE credits.

Leadership Orientation for New Board MembersJuly 25-26 School board members and educationleaders who have been on the job for twoyears or less are urged to take advantageof AASB’s leadership orientation program.This two-day training session provides awealth of information on the fundamentals

of school board leadership and includessuch topics as boardmanship, schoolfinance, personnel, law and ethics. Leader-ship I attendees will earn 8 credit hours.

Breakout Sessions that MatterSelect from three morning breakout ses-sions on Tuesday, July 28. These impor-tant topics will be your guideposts forleadership and help you make the mostof your service to public education.

Decide What Matters MostBoard presidents and superintendentsfrom Brewton, Muscle Shoals and ElmoreCounty discuss their experiences inAASB’s new Governing for AchievementProject, a grant-funded effort to boost stu-dent success through board actions.

Budgets That Drive Student Achievement

Learn how board members can createbudgets that impact student success byfocusing on the numbers that matter, andreceive tips on how to increase resources.

Consolidating and ClosingSchoolsHow do you make the tough decision toclose or consolidate a school and com-municate with the public about thisemotionally charged issue? LawrenceCounty and Mobile County schools sharetheir experiences. ■

s

ln

nt

n Exhibitors/Sponsors: Heroes in Tough TimesLooking for an opportunity to give back

and reach out to school systems?

Become an AASB Professional Sustaining

Member and help the association of more

than 800 members continue to provide

low-cost, high quality educational

opportunities for school boards.

Want to exhibit or sponsor an event at

Summer Conference? Register online at

www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org.

REGISTER NOW!All events will be at the Perdido Hotel, (800/634-8001,

mention AASB). Conference registration must be completed by July 17 to avoid a penalty. You may register atwww.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org or by calling 800/562-0601 or faxing 334/270-0000.

AASB Conference Registration is $215 for members, including employees of member school boards, and $430 fornon-members. The fee covers conference speakers, materials,refreshment breaks and designated meals. Leadership I registration is $120. For ACSBA members, registration is $180. A $15 late fee will be added for on-site conference registration.

Learn How to Navigate These Tough Times!


10 QUESTIONS By Shannon Hendricks

It seems as if Cathy Gassenheimer’sfavorite two-word phrases are “best practices” and “quality instruction.”

Gassenheimer has been managing directorof the A+ Education Partnership — formerlythe A+ Education Foundation — for 17 yearsand has made it her business to understandthe kinds of best practices that can ulti-

mately result in high achievement by every child. Gassenheimer’s primary role with the nonprofit A+ is as exec-

utive vice president for the Alabama Best Practices Center, a sis-ter organization. Through the center, educators at more than 200schools across the state are exposed to the latest research andbest practices in professional development. She draws on herexpertise when serving on a variety of regional and statewidecommittees. Gassenheimer is a member of the SoutheasternCenter on Teaching Quality and has served on the ExecutiveCommittee of the Governor’s Task Force on Teaching Quality.Also, in 2008, she received the Southeastern Elementary Princi-pal’s Award for outstanding contributions to education.

Q. What is your organization’s mission? A. First let me start by saying ... our board recently voted for

a new mission statement and name change. The new mis-sion statement is ‘A+ Education Partnership works for greatschools for every child and a bright future for Alabama.’ A+believes every child in the state deserves an excellent edu-cation regardless of where he or she lives. Too often, thequality of education in Alabama is based on your neighbor-hood instead of your school. So, we felt very strongly thatevery child is worthy and deserves a great education.

Q. How has A+ changed over the years?A. A+ started in 1991. Bill Smith, chairman of Royal Cup Inc.

coffee company in Birmingham, and Caroline Novak, acivic volunteer who is now the president of A+, partici-pated in the first Leadership Alabama class. It did not taketoo long when they started discussing the challenges andopportunities facing Alabama for education to come frontand center. Bill and Caroline felt strongly that somethingshould be done and they formed A+.

Q. What professional standards do you use to measureteacher quality?

A. The Governor’s Commission on Quality Teaching devel-

oped the Alabama Quality Teacher Standards that wereadopted by the state Board of Education. Before these stan-dards were adopted, we did not have teacher standards inthis state.

The next step after the standards were adopted was thegovernor’s commission developed the Alabama Continuumfor Teacher Development. The first standard, for example,is teacher content knowledge. The continuum takes teach-ers from the beginning all the way through expert levelsand shows where teachers should be at these differentstages relative to the standards. It really is a wonderful pro-fessional development tool for teachers to say: ‘Whereshould I be? What does this standard mean, and howshould it be actualized as I am teaching in the classroom?’It is their professional practice guidelines.

A lot of school districts have used it for mentoring andprofessional work with teachers, and it’s a great tool forprincipals, too.

Q. How are you working to expand the Advanced Place-ment program?

A. The National Math and Science Initiative, which is also aprivate organization, has provided funding to A+ to expandthe use of advancement placement in Alabama. The waythe program works is it expands the offering of advanceplacement courses, math and science courses at the partic-ular school. It provides targeted professional developmentto teachers who will teach those courses. It encouragesmore students, particularly the nontraditional students whowould not ordinarily be in advanced placement, to getinvolved. And, it provides incentives to teachers and stu-dents to do well. If the student scores a qualifying score,they get a financial reward and the teacher gets a financialreward also, so it’s kind of a real world deal.

Q. How will you know if you have reached your goal?A. Our goal is for every child to have an excellent education,

so we are going to be working on that a good long time.But, it’s certainly an important and worthy goal.

Q. What do you know about the Yes We Can Alabamainitiative?

A. This is an initiative modeled after a successful publicengagement effort in Mobile managed by the Mobile Area Education Foundation Executive Director Caroline

Cathy GassenheimerExecutive Vice President, Alabama Best Practices Center

Cathy Gassenheimer

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Ackers. About six years ago, they had been working forsome time to ask the community of Mobile what theywanted for their community and specifically what theywanted for their schools. They gathered all that infothrough countless community meetings, and they broughtthe information back to the communities and the schoolboards. Several things happened. First, Mobile passed aproperty tax referendum for the first time in 30 years toraise taxes for schools. Secondly, the school board andschool superintendent developed a comprehensive schoolimprovement plan that resulted in targeting professionaldevelopment for teachers, particularly for math. They tar-geted professional development for principals. They recon-stituted some of Mobile’s chronically low-performingschools. They had signing bonuses for the students and theteachers that were hired with the possibility for additionalbonuses if test scores reached a certain level. They pro-vided a lot of targeted professional development for thoseschools, and the results in most of them had been veryimpressive. So, when you hear about all these wonderfuleconomic developments in Mobile, all of it is because ofthe commitment the community has made to its schools.

The Yes We Can Campaign wanted to build a partner-ship with A+, Leadership Alabama and the Public AffairsResearch Council of Alabama. Basically, it is providinginformation on a tiered level to communities about whatthey can do to improve their schools.

Q. What do you think about the No Child Left Behind Act?A. The No Child Left Behind Act helped jumpstart education

improvement in Alabama when it was passed. The firstthing it did is it required Alabama to change our assess-ment system. We use to report results by averages. Whenyou report by averages, you are masking the scores of chil-dren who might not be doing so well. With NCLB, youhave to report actual results. So, when the schools had todisaggregate the data and start looking at all of their stu-dents, they had to ask questions. Which students are weserving well? Are there trends? Are these students specialeducation students or English Language Learners? Arethese students generation poverty? Not to label, but to askquestions to try to understand what it is we need to do toaddress their needs.

That is the first thing that NCLB did. The second thingwas huge. It provided millions of dollars in Reading Firstmoney to the state for the Alabama Reading Initiative towork with. It has provided schools with targeted profes-sional development, a scientific based reading programand a reading coach in the school.

When serving children that before were not being servedwell, things need to be refined. What we would not supportis throwing the whole bill out. The supplemental services

part of the bill has some problems. There are some worriesabout a school being part of an improvement if they havelarge numbers of children in special education. But, there isan opportunity to look at this Congress and say what isworking well, what has shown results, what is not workingwell and what we can do to address those concerns.

Q. What has been the biggest challenge in your work?A. Every night I go to bed and think about the children that

are not yet getting the great opportunity for an excellenteducation. That is my challenge. We still have studentswho are not served well. I would argue that every childhas more of an opportunity for a better education nowsince the Alabama Reading Initiative.

Q. If you had to choose, what would you say has beenyour greatest achievement?

A. The role we played in helping to launch the AlabamaReading Initiative and being a partner with them over thesepast 10 years. Last year, when we heard that Alabama stu-dents had scored the highest that our students have in his-tory on NAEP (the National Assessment of EducationalProgress), we were so excited. That was tangible evidencethat the Reading Initiative was making a difference in thelives of children in Alabama.

The second initiative we are pleased with is when welaunched the Alabama Best Practices Center more than eightyears ago. The Best Practices Center works with educatorsto help them better understand what they can do to improvelearning and the culture of their school, so schools serve allchildren better and are performing at a higher level.

Another thing would be our collaboration with theSchool Superintendents in Alabama — the SuperintendentLeadership Network. It is funded by the Malone FamilyFoundation, and we are working with superintendentsacross the state who have applied for participation to helpthem become better leaders.

Q. What do you want school board members to know?A. I think they know this, but school is really the center of the

community, and as representatives of the school systemand of the community, they have such an important rolein making sure that the schools are serving students well.The community understands what is real and what is rightabout the schools and what is not right. I really admirethem for being public servants. ■

LEARN MORE

The Best Practices Center was established by the A+ Education Partnership to focus

on improving student achievement by raising the quality of teaching through

professional development. The center produces a variety of education resources.

To join the mailing list, contact Cathy Gassenheimer at [email protected].


Tuscaloosa City Schools and various community

organizations have joined efforts to provide

pre-kindergarten education to help at-risk children

get off to a quick start when they begin school.

hildren are considered to be academically at riskif they score below the 50th percentile in eitherthe language or concepts portion of the Develop-

mental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning, or DIAL test, which children take before the school year begins.

The goal of the program is to identify and provide pre-kinder-garten education for all 4-year-olds deemed academically at risk inthe city of Tuscaloosa. The mission is to offer the best education andhealth services available for all academically at-risk children and theirfamilies. Tuscaloosa was named the Alabama winner of the 2008National Civic Star Award as a result of the program.

The program builds on earlier initiatives of the Tuscaloosa Boardof Education in gaining funds for programs to meet the early learn-ing needs of students. In 1992, the school system worked to estab-lish preschool classes for at-risk students with very little funding. In2000, a local branch of the United Way — the Alexis de TocquevilleSociety spearheaded by two local businessmen — allocated funds

By Joyce Levey and Wanda Fisher

C


for four preschool classes to implement the nationally recognizedSuccess by Six program. A Jump Start program, funded by UnitedWay, was added in the summer of 2005 as a prelude to kinder-garten for students who have had little or no preschool experi-ence.

During the past five years, this group has contributed morethan $857,000 to the pre-K effort in the Tuscaloosa andTuscaloosa County school systems, serving more than 2,200 children. As a result of these cooperative efforts, there are 14 pre-kindergarten units serving more than 230 children inTuscaloosa City Schools.

In 2005, the newly elected mayor established a goal of provid-ing highly effective pre-K programs for all academically at-

risk children in the city. The Mayor’s Pre-K TaskForce was created, including school teachers,school administrators and community members.The group has researched best curriculum prac-

tices, funding possibilities and communityresources while helping to make pre-K pro-grams a mission of the city.

Several organizations and individualsare committing resources and volun-teers to the ongoing effort. Thatincludes the University of Alabama and

Stillman College. University officials haverecruited graduates and provided

three weeks of training forthem to serve as aides inpre-K classrooms. Univer-sity students who serve as

pre-K Jump Start volunteers receive training, free housing and three hours of academic course credit. Work-study internsserve at least 10 hours each week in the pre-K classrooms and service-learning volunteers provide needed assistance. Services are provided through university departments, such asearly childhood development, speech and hearing, advertising/marketing and social work.

Business community involvement includes a private donorwho contributed $10,000 toward the program. Through themayor’s initiative, the City Council provided $73,000 toward thesalaries of a pre-K coordinator and five additional pre-K teachersfor the school system.

The 2005 pre- and post-test assessments for seven pre-K JumpStart classes indicated outstanding progress, both cognitively and socially in most children. At the beginning of the program,students scored at an average percentile of 24. On the post-test,students’ average percentile was 42. In 2006, the average percentile ranking for four classes of students was 24, and thepost-test ranking was 39. For additional details about the Tuscaloosa City Schools pre-K program, contact

Superintendent Dr. Joyce Levey at [email protected] or 205/759-3700 or

Pre-K Coordinator Wanda Fisher at [email protected] or 205/759-3644.

Reprinted with the permission of Sodexo School Services and the American Association of

School Administrators, 2008.

(Alabama Best in the Nation in Pre-K Quality — see article on page 26.)

Photos courtesy

of Tuscaloosa City

Schools.


Alabama Pre-K Best in the Nation By Jan Hume

Alabama has once again proven that it is the best in

the nation. Our state supported pre-K program, First Class, is

of the highest quality. The program was given a perfect 10”

rating from the National Institute for Early Education

Research. This is not the first year. In fact it is the third year in a row that Alabama has received this

rating. Only Alabama and North Carolina can claim this distinction.

First Class meets the 10 standards that research shows to have the greatest impact on qual-

ity. The lead teachers are required to have a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or

child development. The assistant teachers are required to have the Child Development Associ-

ate credential. Highly qualified teachers lead to high-quality programs. Small class sizes, on-

going teacher training, on-site technical assistance, research based curriculum, as well as

vision, hearing, health and dental screenings are all components of the First Class program.

Each site is monitored and held accountable for meeting the standards to maintain high-qual-

ity. Making sure that all children start school ready to learn is what distinguishes First Class.

Potential sites apply to the state for funding and are required to meet standards to ensure they

are quality programs. The approved sites are funded with a combination of state and local dol-

lars. First Class is voluntary and is located in a variety of settings where we already send our chil-

dren: public schools, daycares, Head Start classrooms, community-based centers and churches.

Two thirds of parents choose to send their children to preschool. However, in these eco-

nomic times, preschool is becoming a luxury. And for many Alabamians, it has always been an

unaffordable luxury.

High-quality pre-K impacts student achievement and closes achievement gaps. Research has

shown that children who participate in high-quality pre-K perform better in school. In fact, chil-

dren who have the benefit of high-quality pre-K are less likely to drop out of high school. As we

have heard in the news, having a prepared workforce is one of the biggest challenges facing

Alabama. Our future work force could be in pre-K right now.

There are great people working on high-quality pre-K right now. The Alabama School

Readiness Alliance works in support of the Alabama Department of Children’s Affairs Office of

School Readiness and is made up of four organizations who have committed their time and

resources to the effort of growing Alabama’s high-quality program: A+ Education Partnership,

Alabama Giving, Alabama Partnership for Children and VOICES for Alabama’s Children. More

than 200 individuals and organizations have also joined the alliance. In addition, the Alabama

Association of School Boards and the Business Council of Alabama are growing awareness

among their members, which include business leaders, school board members and other pol-

icy makers, about the benefits of pre-K. State agencies are coordinating with each other to

leverage resources to ensure that high-quality pre-K is available to as many of Alabama’s chil-

dren as possible.

Even with these partnerships, the problem is that only 6 percent of Alabama’s 4-year-olds

have access to this great pre-K program. The program requires state funding and local matching

funds. In these tough budget times, we are hoping to protect the progress that has been made.

In three years, Alabama has nearly tripled the number of children served. However, of the 38

states that provide state funded pre-K, Alabama ranks 36th for access.

Now let’s work toward providing access for all of our children. High-quality pre-K is an invest-

ment in our children and an investment toward the economic growth of our state. ■

Jan Hume is executive director of the Alabama School Readiness Alliance and

may be reached at [email protected].

✔MARK YOUR CALENDAR

JULY 20098-10 NSBA/Southern Region

Little Rock, Arkansas

25-26 AASB Leadership IPerdido Hotel, Orange Beach

26-27 ACSBA Summer ConferencePerdido Hotel, Orange Beach

26-28 AASB Summer ConferencePerdido Hotel, Orange Beach

SEPTEMBER 200914-October 5

AASB District Meetings

OCTOBER 200925-26 AASB Core Academy

ConferenceRenaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa

Montgomery

DECEMBER 20093 AASB Leadership II

Wynfrey Hotel, Birmingham

3-5 AASB Annual ConventionWynfrey Hotel, Birmingham

JANUARY 201011-February 18

AASB District Meetings ■

”


1. How do you receive Alabama School Boards magazine?

Annual subscription as AASB Member - School Board

Annual subscription as AASB Member - Superintendent

Annual subscription as AASB Member - Associate

Annual subscription as ACSBA Member

Annual subscription as Professional Sustaining Member

Receive it in the mail, but not a subscriber

Someone passes their copy on to me

Read it online, but not a subscriber

Other ______________________________

2. How long do you usually keep Alabama School Boards

magazine after you’ve read it?

One week or less One month or less

Until the next issue arrives

I shelve it as reference material

Comment: _____________________________

___________________________________

3. When you share your copy of Alabama School Boards

magazine with someone else, how many other peo-ple do you estimate will read that copy?

1 to 2 people 3 to 5 people More than 5 people

Comment: _____________________________

___________________________________

4. Alabama School Boards magazine is now a quarterly.How often would you prefer to receive our magazine?

Weekly Every two weeks

Monthly Quarterly

Semi-annually Annually

5. How much of our magazine do you read?

25% or less (flip through it)

26% to half (skim it)

51% to 75% (reader)

More than 75% (avid reader)

6. What is your overall satisfaction with Alabama School Boards magazine?

Very satisfied Somewhat satisfied

Neutral

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7. Rate your satisfaction with the following features of Alabama School Boards magazine.

Images Very satisfied Somewhat satisfied

Neutral


Color Very satisfied Somewhat satisfied

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Layout Very satisfied Somewhat satisfied

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Length Very satisfied Somewhat satisfied

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Design Very satisfied Somewhat satisfied

Neutral


Comment:

___________________________________

___________________________________

8. How relevant do you find the information in Alabama School Boards?

Very relevant Somewhat relevant

Neutral

Somewhat irrelevant Very irrelevant

9. Please rank (1 to 5) each of these parts of Alabama School Boards in order of importance and helpfulness to you.

1 = Most Important/Helpful

5 = Least Important/Helpful

Most Important Neutral Least Important

MARK YOUR CALENDAR (Events Calendar)1 2 3 4 5

AT THE TABLE Profile of AASB Members1 2 3 4 5

HELP (Answers to Member Questions)1 2 3 4 5

PROFESSIONAL SUSTAINING MEMBERS LIST1 2 3 4 5

ADVERTISEMENTS1 2 3 4 5

Comment: _____________________________

___________________________________

10. Please rank (1-10) each of these parts of Alabama School Boards in order of importance and helpfulness to you.

1 = Most Important/Helpful

5 = Least Important/Helpful

Most Important Neutral Least Important

AASB NEWS1 2 3 4 5

FACE TO FACE Articles with State Government Leaders1 2 3 4 5

AASB EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PERSPECTIVE COLUMN1 2 3 4 5

AASB PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE COLUMN1 2 3 4 5

EDUCATION & THE LAW COLUMN1 2 3 4 5

Articles on BOARDMANSHIP, GOVERNANCE & LEADERSHIP1 2 3 4 5

Articles on PRE-K-12 EDUCATION1 2 3 4 5

10 QUESTIONS Q&A FEATURE1 2 3 4 5

TRENDS, RESEARCH & DATA BRIEFS1 2 3 4 5

PEOPLE & SCHOOLS BRIEFS1 2 3 4 5

Comment: ____________________________

___________________________________

11. What topics and types of articles would you like to

see in future issues of Alabama School Boards?

Comment: __________________________________________________________________________________________________

12. What about Alabama School Boards would you like to see improved?

Comment: __________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. Would you be interested in providing content for this newsletter?

Yes (Provide e-mail address)

No

Maybe (Provide e-mail address)

Comment: __________________________________________________________________________________________________

14. What is the optimal way for you to receive Alabama School Boards?

As a printed publication

Electronically as a pdf

An e-mail link to the new issue online

Other: _______________________________________________________________

15. What is the most challenging non-financial problem currently facing your school board?

Comment: ____________________________

______________________________________________________________________

16. What is the size of your school system?

Less than 1,000 students

1,000 - 5,000 students

More than 5,000 but less than 10,000

More than 10,000 but less than 50,000

More than 50,000 students

17. What is your age group?

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54

55-64 65 - 74 75+

18. Which category best describes the highest level of education you have completed?

Less than high school graduate

High school graduate

Some college

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Some post-college

Post graduate degree

19. Which category best describes your racial or ethnic background?

African-American Caucasian

American Indian Asian/Pacific Islander

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Other _____________________________

Please attach a separate sheet if you care to make

further comments or suggestions.

Thank you for your time and feedback!

Alabama School BoardsREADER SURVEY

Dear AASB member: To ensure Alabama School Boards magazine continues to be a key source of valuable,

relevant information, we need your feedback. Please take a few minutes to answer these questions and fax by

July 30 to 334/270-0000, e-mail to [email protected] or mail to ATTN: Alabama School Boards

Readership Survey, P.O. Drawer 230488, Montgomery, AL 36123-0488.

here is an inherent human tendencyto categorize things in the worldaround us. We want to take chaos

and make some sense of it. Maybe that iswhy we are always drawn to statistics.Numbers always seem to grab people’sattention, and education is a gold-mine ofnumbers. Here are some numbers thatprevail in our educational system: ■■ 5,447 students dropped out of

Alabama’s schools in 2008.■■ 1.2 million students drop out every

year in America.■■ 40 percent of teen moms in Alabama

will not complete high school.■■ 80 percent of prisoners in America

are dropouts.What are some of the reasons why we

have these numbers? In Robert Balfanz’spaper titled What Your Community CanDo to End Its Drop-Out Crisis: Learningsfrom Research and Practice, he addressesthe sources of why students drop out ofschool. ■■ Life events that happen outside of

school.■■ Students become frustrated and bored

with school, and dropping out or get-ting a GED is their only course ofaction.

■■ Students are withdrawn from school,transferred to other schools or droppedfrom the school rolls because they areor perceived to be difficult, dangerousor detrimental to the success of theschool.

■■ Students experience repeated failuresin school.As the 2010 Alabama State Teacher of

the Year, I have two goals. My first goal isto help bring more information and atten-tion to educators and community leadersabout our graduation rate in Alabama andwhat we are doing to increase that rate.

We have many wonderful programs thatare in place to help our students succeed(See Pathways to Graduation), all of whichhelp guide students through high school.

One such program is Jobs for Ala-bama’s Graduates, which is implementedin 19 school systems statewide and is aneffective program serving at-risk students.The Alabama Math, Science and Technol-ogy Initiative (AMSTI) brings math and sci-ence training to teachers and resources tothe students. A+ College Ready is well onits way to increasing student participationin Advanced Placement courses and per-formance on AP exams in math, scienceand English. These programs have beenput in place to help our students preparefor our global economy and to help pro-pel Alabama’s educational system to thetop in the country.

My second goal is to reach out to stu-dents and speak to them on a much morepersonal level. Being an immigrant to thiscountry, I have experienced poverty,racism, abuse, failures and, ultimately, sur-vival and success. I want to inspire stu-dents to take advantage of their educationto help them overcome their own obsta-cles. I want to share my personal storyand why pursuing education gave me thechance to succeed. I want to inspire thosestudents who are struggling to know thatthere is hope, and I want to inspire thosestudents who are succeeding to knowthey have the responsibility to help others.

In order to help our students meet theireducational goals and increase our gradu-ation rates, educational and communityleaders must take an honest look at thereasons why students are not performingwell in school and are therefore droppingout. Programs that consistently showimprovement in student success should be

A TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE

By Yung Thi Bui-Kincer, Alabama’s 2009-2010 Teacher of the Year

THE PROMISE


(Continued on page 30)

FIRST CHOICE is the state’s new initia-

tive to help students who have successfully

completed curriculum requirements but haven’t

passed all sections of the Alabama High School

Graduation Exam to complete high school with a

recognized diploma.

First Choice also seeks to decrease dropouts by

providing effective intervention through gradu-

ation coaches and academic flexibility. Listed are

other new academic tools designed to help high

school students reach their full potential.

■ Credit Recovery — Allows students to

prove they are knowledgeable on a segment

of a course and receive course credit or earn

promotion without retaking the entire course.

■ Credit Advancement — Allows students

in-school and out-of-school educational

opportunities to meet course requirements in

nontraditional ways.

■ Graduation Coaches — Serve as coun-

selors for “at-risk” students, advising them

on course work and other issues to keep

them on task and increasing their odds for

graduation.

■ Preparing Alabama Students for Success

— PASS is a comprehensive and broad-based

initiative geared toward students in grades

6-12 who are at risk of failure in school.

Source: http://www.alsde.edu/general/

Firstchoicebrochure_08_2008.pdf

TT


&People&Schools

AASB WelcomesYour News

Send news of appointments, elections,

promotions, retirements, honors, births

and deaths to Attn: People & Schools Editor,

Alabama School Boards Magazine, P.O. Drawer

230488, Montgomery, AL 36123-0488 or

[email protected].

OFOF NOTENOTE■■ Welcome aboard to the following

board members: Sandra Elkins ofAlbertville; David Sturdivant ofAlexander City; Tracie West ofAuburn; Freeman Waller of DallasCounty; Jimmy Jones of Enter-prise; Billy Weeks of FranklinCounty; David Mitchell of Gun-tersville; Dr. James Joy of Hart-selle; Beth McAlpine of Haleyville;Paulette Pearson of Hoover; RoyBeall of Jasper; James Blair andKathy Dutton of Leeds; ConnieSpears of Madison City; ElizabethDunn of Mountain Brook; DonaldPendergrass of Muscle Shoals;Tony Bolton of Oxford; BenjaminSneed of Ozark; Larry Laney ofRussell County; Roderick West ofSelma; Judge Jerry Fielding of Tal-ladega County; Dr. Jerry Schreinerof Thomasville; Wally Lowery ofTroy; Sid McNeal and Bill Robertsof Trussville; Jerry M. Dent II ofVestavia Hills; and Donnie Laseterof Winston County.

■■ A welcome goes to new superin-tendents Philip Baker of Talla-poosa County; David Easley of Cle-burne County; Greg Faulkner ofAutauga County; Interim MichaelFoster of Bessemer; Paul Gay ofRandolph County; Heath Grimesof Lawrence County; Ken Hard-ing of Jackson County; WoodiePugh of Clarke County; GareyReynolds of Clay County; DennisSanford of Coosa County; GaryWilliams of Franklin County; andDr. Wayne Vickers of Saraland.

■■ Congratulations to the Vestavia HillsBoard of Education for earning recog-nition for “Collaboration: Synergy inthe Visionary Classroom” in theAmerican School Board Journal’s15th annual Magna Awards programsupported by Sodexo School Services.The Cullman Board of Educationwas also honored for its “One-on-One Initiative” to improve teachingand learning through the use of lap-top technology.

■■ Cheers to free AASB event registrationwinner Phyllis Wyne of Birming-ham. She was selected among thosewho completed and returned evalua-tions at the March Conference.

2009-2010 Alabama Teacher of

the Year Yung Thi Bui-Kincer of

Montgomery County poses

with last year’s winner Roy Hudson of Jefferson County.

(inset) The alternate winner and Elementary Teacher

of the Year is Shannon Finley of Calhoun County.

Congratulations to the Alabama Senate, winners of the

2009 Legislative Softball Game. They were coached by

Sen. Rodger Smitherman to a 28-15 win over the Alabama

House coached by Rep. Greg Wren.

Photo: Auburn University Montgomery

Applause goes to Alabama

Public Television’s 2009 Young

Heroes award winners selected

from a group of nearly 200 from around the state for

demonstrating courage, determination, volunteerism and

academic excellence. The winners were Caitlin Campbell

(above) of Hoover, Carrie Parrish of Lauderdale County,

Maranda Rikard of Florence, Tiffany Sauls of

Albertville and Pablo Zuniga (inset) of DeKalb County.

Pam DoyleAASB’s District 8 DirectorPam Doyle of MuscleShoals just added anotherfeather to her cap. She isnow chairwoman of the

Shoals Chamber of Commerce. Theowner of Superior Print Solutions beganher one-year term in April.

Pam BerryWelcome to Pam Berryof Gurley, the 2009-2011President of Alabama PTA.She is the Project Coor-dinator for the Gurley

Community Learning Center, an afterschool program.

Pam Doyle

Pam Berry

(Continued on page 30)


School Board

MontgomeryCounty Board of Education

Hometown

Montgomery

A Board

Member

Since 2004

Books at Bedside

The School Administrator and all kinds of public relations and marketing books.

Inspiration

The students. The board works in harmony with one another.

Motto as a Board Member

Every student has a God-given right to be educated.

Walter Mitty Fantasy

World peace.

Advice to New Board Members

To attend the school board meetings, to network and attend the conferences.

Greatest Accomplishment

as a Board Member

There have been so many wonderfulachievements, including recognition from the state school board.

Pet Peeve as a Board Member

Starting meetings late; for board membersto come in late.

Reason I Like Being an AASB Member

You get to meet so many people, and you get to learn so much from otherschool board members.

My Epitaph

Give me flowers while I’m alive. ■

AT THE TABLE

By Eve Harmon

Beverly Ross

■ Kudos to AASB Executive Director Sally Howell, who recently participatedin several pre-K efforts in April, including a presentation to the NationalSchool Boards Association conference in San Diego, a workshop presenta-tion titled “Many Happy Returns: The School Board’s Role in Pre-K” at thestatewide Pre-K conference and an address to the first ever Pre-K AdvocacyForum and Reception attended by pre-K advocates, legislators and a numberof AASB school board members. Howell has also been chosen to serve onNSBA’s strategic planning work group.

■ Gratitude goes to school board attorneys Jayne Harrell Williams and LizBrannen Carter of Hill Hill Carter for conducting AASB’s first Personnel LawReview webinar/teleconference in April.

■ Hats off to the 2009 Torchbearer Schools, academically high-performing,high-poverty schools. Those receiving rewards were Mobile County’s AnnaF. Booth, Calcedeaver, George Hall, Indian Springs, Saint Elmo and Hollowayelementary schools and Wilcox County’s F.S. Ervin Elementary School.

■ Cheers to Madison schools for discussing “Strategies of Success for ClosingAchievement Gaps” at the 2009 NSBA Annual Conference in San Diego. Presenters included Superintendent Dee Fowler, moderator; Sue Helms,AASB and Madison board president; Camille Wright, secondary instructiondirector; and Mary Long, elementary instruction director.

■ Kudos to Jasper Superintendent Dr. Robert Sparkman for receiving the Kermit A. Johnson Outstanding Superintendent Award at the University ofMontevallo Graduate Honors Luncheon.

■ Applause to the state Board of Education, named 2009 Government Agencyof the Year by The Leeds Herald.

SYMPATHIES■ Condolences to the family of 30-year educator, retired math teacher and

Oxford school board member Mally Moody, who died in April. Rep. MikeRogers honored Moody by introducing a congressional resolution on May 12.

■ Sympathies to the Montgomery County schools family of MargaretCarpenter, who served as a member of that board from 1992 to 2004. ■

People & Schools Continued from page 29

supported. Educational and community leaders need to inform parents and students about the data that help support education and programs that aid instudent success. For instance:■ From 2002-2008, Alabama had a 69 percent increase in students

scoring 3-5 on AP exams.■ From 2002-2006, the state improved its graduation rate with a

4.1 percent increase, placing Alabama sixth in the nation for graduationrate improvement.

■ 100 percent of AMSTI-trained schools scored higher on the StanfordAchievement Test in math and science than schools that were not.Public education holds the promise of equal education opportunities, no

matter of race, religion or ability in which students are held up to high stan-dards and expectations. As educational leaders and role models, we must doeverything in our power to make sure all children have access to this promise.

Yung Thi Bui-Kincer is Alabama’s 2009-2010 Teacher of the Year. She teaches anatomy, biology and environ-

mental science at Booker T. Washington Magnet School in the Montgomery County public school system.

She may be reached at [email protected].

The Promise Continued from page 28


• Aho Architects LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hoover, AL 205/313-6345

• Alabama Beverage Association . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/263-6621

• Alabama Gas Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/326-8425

• Alabama Supercomputer Authority . . Montgomery, AL 334/832-2405

• Almon Associates Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tuscaloosa, AL 205/349-2100

• American Fidelity Assurance . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/987-0950

or 800/365-3714

• Barganier Davis Sims Architects . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/834-2038

• BlueCross BlueShield of Alabama . . . Birmingham, AL 205/220-5771

• Christian Testing Labs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/264-4422

• Council of Alabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/841-2653

Coca-Cola Bottlers Inc.

• Davis Architects Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/322-7482

• Fibrebond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Minden, LA 318/377-1030

• Gallet & Associates Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/942-1289

• Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood Inc. . . . Montgomery,AL 334/271-3200

Birmingham, AL 205/879-4462

Mobile, AL 251/460-4006

Huntsville, AL 256/533-1484

• Hecht Burdeshaw Architects . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opelika, AL 334/826-8448

• Hoar Program Management . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/803-2121

• Information Transport Solutions, Inc. . . Wetumpka, AL 334/567-1993

• Interquest Detection Canines . . . . . . . . . Demopolis, AL 334/341-7763

• Jenkins Munroe Jenkins Architecture . . Anniston, AL 256/820-6844

• JH Partners Architecture/Interiors . . . . . Huntsville, AL 256/539-0764

• Johnson Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Huntsville, AL 256/217-2800

• Kelly Services Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dothan, AL 334/673-7136

• KHAFRA Engineers, Architects . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/252-8353

and Construction Managers

• KPS Group Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/458-3245

• Krebs Architecture & Engineering . . . Birmingham, AL 205/987-7411

• Lathan Associates Architects PC . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/879-9110

• M.B. Kahn Construction Co. Inc. . . . . . . . Huntsville, AL 803/360-3527

• McKee & Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/834-9933

Architecture and Design

• Osborn & Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Huntsville, AL 256/534-3516

• Payne & Associates Architects . . . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/272-2180

• PH&J Architects Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/265-8781

• PPM Consultants Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Spanish Fort, AL 251/990-9025

• Rosser International Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/244-7484

• SACS CASI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Montgomery, AL 334/244-3163

• Sain Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Birmingham, AL 205/940-6420

• School Reach Instant Parent Contact . . . . Fenton, MO 800/420-1479

• Scientific Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tallahassee, FL 850/228-8882

• Seay, Seay & Litchfield P.C. . . . . . . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/263-5162

• Sherlock Smith & Adams Inc. . . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/263-6481

• Siemens Building Technologies Inc. . . . . . .Pelham, AL 205/403-8388

• SKT Architects P.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Huntsville, AL 256/533-6617

• Southland International Bus Sales . . Birmingham, AL 888/844-1821

• 2WR/Holmes Wilkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/263-6400

Architects Inc.

• TAC Energy Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/970-6132

• Thompson Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mobile, AL 251/666-2443

• Transportation South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pelham, AL 205/663-2287

• Evan Terry Associates PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/972-9100

• Volkert & Associates Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mobile, AL 334/432-6735

Alabama Association of School Boards

Professional Sustaining Members

APartnershipThat Works!AASB appreciates these professional members for supporting association activities and you all year long.

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAID

Montgomery, ALPermit No. 34

Alabama Association of School Boards

Post Office Drawer 230488

Montgomery, Alabama 36123-0488

Documents

2009 Summer - Alabama School Boards Magazine