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.
‘Why does my toddler … ?’ Your kiddo’s most confounding behavior, decoded
Why does my toddler say "no" to everything? Say everything is "mine"? Want to crash into everything? Child development experts unpack common toddler behaviors and offer advice on how parents can cope.
‘It Was Just an Accident’ is a blast of pure anti-authoritarian rage
Iranian director Jafar Panahi has been arrested repeatedly in his home country. His shockingly funny new revenge thriller was informed by the stories of people he met in prison.
Effort to pay at least some federal workers fails in Senate
The Senate failed to advance two partisan bills that would have paid some federal workers during the shutdown. Democrats and Republicans remain deadlocked as the shutdown drags on.
How presidents have changed the White House — and how Trump’s ballroom is different
President Trump is demolishing the East Wing to make room for a ballroom. His administration says he's continuing a presidential legacy of White House renovations, but this is the biggest in decades.
The East Wing could fully be demolished soon, as preservationists urge caution
President Trump is plowing ahead with plans to build a grand ballroom where the East Wing of the White House currently stands. The plans have not gone through the committee tasked with overseeing such projects.
Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro says ‘I’d rather die’ than use generative AI
Del Toro's new Frankenstein adaption reimagines Mary Shelley's 1818 Gothic novel. Frankenstein was like a tech bro: "creating something without considering the consequences," he explains.
