Phil Hammonds on Bold Goals for Alabama Education’s Future
Former Jefferson County School Superintendent Phil Hammonds knows a lot about public education. Before his retirement, he worked in Alabama schools and school systems for 40 years. Hammonds is now co-chair of the Bold Goals Coalition for education. It’s a group of more than 200 organizations in central Alabama collaborating to improve education and quality of life. In advance of WBHM’s and the Southern Education Desk’s “Issues and Ales” education forum this evening, Hammonds joined WBHM’s Rachel Osier Lindley to talk about his prescriptions for improving Alabama’s schools and what Bold Goals Education aims to do.
Dr. Phil Hammonds
Communication is Key
“Part of what Bold Goals is is bringing all these agencies, all these non-profits, all these school districts, together to say ‘Let’s begin. Let’s foster that conversation. What’s a best practice that worked within your school system, within your individual school, that we could emulate in our school system?’ Communication is at the very forefront of what we’re doing.”
Successes So Far
“School systems in Fairfield, Midfield and Bessemer recently came together and they have formed their own pre-K program. There was a school in Fairfield that was going to basically be abandoned…So rather than that building sitting there, those three communities, superintendents, and school boards came together to say ‘What is it that we could do in this building.’ Individually it might have been very difficult for any of those three systems to provide a quality, first-class pre-K program.”
Three Things Every School System Should Do
Number One: “Asking ‘What are we doing instructionally for your students?’ If a child has to work during the day, find a way where he or she can go to school at night. Should buildings be empty on Saturdays? How are we offering a sound instructional program? Solid instruction is the bedrock of what Bold Goals is about.”
Number Two: “Communicate with the community or the communities you serve. Be sure that parents, civic leaders, and government leaders know the status of where we are and where we want to be.”
Number Three: “Always be very cognizant of funding levels. Someone may say throwing money at something doesn’t solve it. Well, is the converse of that, taking money away, going to solve a challenge? How do we move forward that the resources that we had pre-2008 aren’t quite what they are now? We can’t use that as a reason we cannot, or should not, move forward. We have to find ways we can and be creative in that.”
United Nations nuclear agency again condemns Iran for failing to fully cooperate
The resolution comes after the agency said Iran has defied demands to rein in its nuclear program and has increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
Alabama carries out nation’s 3rd nitrogen gas execution
An Alabama man convicted in the 1994 killing of a hitchhiker cursed at the prison warden shortly before he was put to death Thursday evening in the nation's third execution using nitrogen gas.
Trump names former Florida AG Pam Bondi as his new pick for U.S. attorney general
After former Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration, President-elect Donald Trump named Pam Bondi, a former attorney general of Florida, as his next pick for U.S. attorney general.
Police report gives details, timeline of the sexual assault claim against Pete Hegseth
The woman who accused then-Fox News host of sexual assault in 2017 said that she "remembered saying 'no' a lot," according to a police report. Hegseth is President-elect Donald Trump's choice for Secretary of Defense.
Alabama Black Belt’s sewer crisis a tougher fix for residents in manufactured homes
Poor sanitation has long plagued residents in Alabama’s Black Belt. For people with manufactured houses, finding a solution has been more challenging.
In Birmingham, Black men’s groups work to save young men from the cycle of gun violence
As the city inches closer to its homicide record, community members are trying to address a sense of fatalism and lack of opportunity felt by some young men.
