Paul DeMarco: The Alabama state school system is making some progress, but there is still much work for students to do

By Paul DeMarco

The Alabama Department of Education just released its annual report on the academic performance of each school system and the state as a whole. The results are in and the state has made slight improvements compared to last year, but there is still much work to be done.

Paul DeMarco

The state’s overall average was 85, up two points from last year. Unfortunately, the specific results for the state were pretty terrible. Overall, the state achieved a grade of 64 in academic performance, which corresponds to a three. To make matters worse, the overall English language skills were graded F at 41.

The good news was that academic growth was an A with a score of 97 and graduation rate was an A with a score of 90. Those were positive numbers, but Alabama State students deserve better.

While there were local schools that performed exceptionally well, the state still has much work to do for other Alabama students who did not perform well. There have been decades of reforms that recently included record funding for K-12 schools in the state. However, tax revenue for the state’s education trust fund has declined, meaning lawmakers will have less money to budget next year. However, Alabama state representatives and senators are already considering changing the formula for using state schools’ funds. However, it is not only the state’s responsibility, but also local school systems and parents’ responsibility to ensure that their students achieve academically.

State leaders, parents, and members of the education community must digest the latest rankings, evaluate them, and implement a plan to improve those results, particularly in the areas of reading and writing, where much hard work still needs to be done.

Paul DeMarco is a former member of the Alabama Representatives and can be found on X, formerly Twitter, as @Paul_DeMarco