I received a letter from the Alabama Department of Education the other day announcing that 50 schools across the state will received $20,000 each because of the good job they did in third grade reading gains during the 2017-18 school year. I began scratching my head.
The Alabama Legislature allocated the money for this program during its last session. The letter I received stated “Today, the 50 schools that will receive this earmarked funding are recognized for their efforts in showing the most improvement in last year's third grade reading results.
I found it a little ironic since a few years ago the Alabama Legislature gutted the funding for the Alabama Reading Initiative.
The letter said the $20,000 checks is “a way of recognizing and incentivizing teachers and students who have worked hard to achieve proficiency in reading by the third grade in last year's Scantron Performance Series Reading Assessment.”
I noticed no schools in Escambia County were selected. In the seven schools selected in State School Board District 1 that includes the Escambia County School System and the Brewton City School System, two went to Covington County (Pleasant Home School and W.S. Harlan Elementary School) and the rest went to Baldwin and Mobile counties with Baldwin County having four and Mobile County having one.
I've got no idea what the Scantron Performance Series Reading Assessment is, but it must be some measuring stick to allow people to grade students, teachers and schools without knowing how much work those schools do to improve the educational opportunities of their students.
Looking through the list I noticed three schools from the Hover City School System received grants, one went to Mountain Brook and in School Board District 4, the only school to get $20,000 was Phillips Academy in the Birmingham City School System.
I didn't see any schools from the Black Belt on that list with the possible exception of Sweet Water High School in Marengo County and why a high school got $20,000 for reading in the third grade also made me scratch my head. Maybe they go kindergarten through 12th grade at Sweetwater, I don't know. That may explain why they have such a good football program year in and year out.
The problem I have with the grants is that the money should go to schools that are struggling in third grade reading if the goal is to really get students in the third grade reading on a third grade level.
That money could possibly be used to hire an aid, who could do some one-one-one work with struggling students; that money could possibly be matched to hire a new teacher; purchase new books; or simply offer incentives to students to try harder.
My bet is that money would have been better spent in an elementary school in Hale or Dallas counties than in Mountain Brook or Hoover.
Teachers in rural areas that face economic and family issues have a tougher time getting through to students than those in the more affluent areas. You can blame that on a lot of issues. You can blame in on the parents who don't prepare or work with their children. The blame list can go on and on, but the bottom line is these students will come out on the other end as one or two types of people: tax payers or tax liabilities.
I do understand that throwing money at a problem doesn't always solve the problems but I also know if the teachers or schools don't have the resources to reach out and help struggling students, the problem will never be solved.
After looking over the list, I still say that $1 million could have been better spent at schools where teachers are doing the best they can to help our children in sometimes difficult situations.
