Trisha Powell Crain on Top Education Stories of 2015
This year has been extremely busy on the Alabama education beat: a study commissioned by the state education department itself called school funding inadequate and unequal; state Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh floated a draft bill that could, among other seismic shifts, tie teacher pay to student test results; and, as Alabama School Connection’s Trisha Powell Crain points out, charter schools became legal in Alabama. But she tells WBHM’s Dan Carsen that even that story is not quite so simple.
Listen to the five-minute on-air version of the interview above. Key excerpts and a web-only extended version are below.
An Experiment
“Charter schools are only as good as the operators. I don’t know how you know up front if a charter school operator is going to be a good one or not, so it’s always an experiment … I wouldn’t say I’m worried, [but] I think I’ll be watching very carefully.”
Haves and Have-Nots
“[The report said] the way Alabama’s schools are funded is massively inequitable … The school districts that have, have a lot. The school districts that have very little local money are the have-nots … Alabama has a history of saying, well, we’re happy with the haves and the have-nots. I mean, the system has developed not out of ignorance. There have been some purposeful choices made that have allowed some school districts to amass more money than others.”
Tying Teacher Evaluation — and Pay — to Student Test Scores?
“Remembering, it is a draft [bill] … if teachers do exceedingly well, then they [would] be paid a bonus. At this point, Alabama is one of only six states that don’t tie teacher evaluation to test scores in some way. The devil is in the details … Bringing this to scale, I have some concerns. We have a lot of struggles in our schools, right? Can we really expect every teacher to be able to mount all of those struggles that children face in a day and then show some fantastic result on a standardized test score?”
Click below for the web-exclusive 17-minute interview, which includes Crain’s thoughts on teacher tenure, “neovouchers,” Catholic education (and Catholic education with money diverted from public coffers), No Child Left Behind, and the controversial Alabama Accountability Act of 2013, which continues to be revised and scrutinized:
‘Songs from the Hole’: The story behind JJ’88’s documentary and visual album
The visual album and documentary Songs from the Hole tells the story of James Jacobs, the hip-hop artist JJ'88, as he reflects on his coming-of-age within California's state prison system.
Oil price surges as Iran steps up attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf
Markets seesawed on Day 13 of the war in the Middle East, as two oil tankers were struck by projectiles near Iraq's southern ports and attacks between Israel and Hezbollah intensified.
Easy-to-use solar panels are coming, but utilities are trying to delay them
Utilities are convincing lawmakers around the U.S. to delay bills that would allow people to buy solar panels, plug them into an outlet and begin generating electricity.
Trump’s war with Iran is angering some swing voters who want money spent at home
Swing voters who helped reelect President Trump in 2024 don't support his decision to go to war in Iran and instead want to see U.S. tax dollars spent tackling economic pressures facing Americans.
5 ways to resist the urge to keep looking at your phone
So you want to spend less time on your phone. How do you do that when it's designed to suck you in? Life Kit spoke to experts in behavioral science, psychology and technology for real-world advice.
The Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrant truckers shifts into higher gear
The White House wants tougher rules for commercial licenses after several high-profile crashes involving foreign-born drivers. But critics say that would do little to make the nation's roads safer.
