Alabama High School Grad Rates Inflated, Superintendent Says
On paper, Alabama’s graduation rate of 89.3 percent ranks third in the country. But those rates, reported to the U.S. Department of Education, were inflated, says Alabama’s new school superintendent. The state was counting occupational diplomas with lower standards and didn’t adequately supervise school systems that may have been granting diplomas to students who hadn’t earned them.
State School Superintendent Michael Sentance says, “This is a black eye for the department and it makes the education system here look bad, and in some ways undeservedly so.”
Sentance told the State Board of Education during a Thursday meeting that he is working on a solution.
“We need to make sure that when a student says I have a diploma from an Alabama high school it means something powerful,” he says.
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley says he’s alarmed and disappointed by the report. Former Superintendent Tommy Bice has said he stands by his decision to include occupational diplomas in the count for high school graduation.
Mentally ill people are stuck in jail because they can’t get treatment. Here’s what’s to know
Hundreds of people across Alabama await a spot in the state’s increasingly limited facilities, despite a consent decree requiring the state to address delays in providing care for people who are charged with crimes but deemed too mentally ill to stand trial. But seven years since the federal agreement, the problem has only worsened.
Ivey appoints Will Parker to Alabama Supreme Court
Parker fills the court seat vacated by Bill Lewis who was tapped by President Donald Trump for a federal judgeship. The U.S. Senate last month confirmed Lewis as a U.S. district judge.
How Alabama Power kept bills up and opposition out to become one of the most powerful utilities in the country
In one of the poorest states in America, the local utility earns massive profits producing dirty energy with almost no pushback from state regulators.
No more Elmo? APT could cut ties with PBS
The board that oversees Alabama Public Television is considering disaffiliating from PBS, ending a 55-year relationship.
Nonprofit erases millions in medical debt across Gulf South, says it’s ‘Band-Aid’ for real issue
Undue Medical Debt has paid off more than $299 million in medical debts in Alabama. Now, the nonprofit warns that the issue could soon get worse.
Roy Wood Jr. on his father, his son and his new book
Actor, comedian and writer Roy Wood Jr. is out with a new book -- "The Man of Many Fathers: Life Lessons Disguised as a Memoir." He writes about his experience growing up in Birmingham, losing his dad as a teenager and all the lessons he learned from various father figures throughout his career.
