CULLMAN —
A positive sign for Alabama’s schools and economy surfaced this week in a report showing the state Education Trust Fund is on track to meet targeted tax collections for the fiscal year.
For local school officials and others across the state, stability in the fund is welcome news. The state’s public school system has been hammered by proration for years, which has weakened efforts to fund technology, expand professional development and other areas of education that directly impact students.
Even the brighter news from the state is being received with caution by local school districts. The damage caused by proration and the lag in the economy will take several years to correct if the trust fund continues the upward trend.
Nonetheless, with the vast amount of revenue directed to the trust fund everyone can feel some optimism that the economy may be thawing. The condition of the General Fund remains horrible, but outside of economic conditions it will never be in good condition without some changes at the state level on how revenue is divided for education and other services.
Alabama has a lot of potential in its economy with the state’s renewed interest on existing industry and new investments. The governor and the Republican leadership are largely in agreement that sustained growth can only be earned through a greater expansion in the private job market. Government’s role should be geared more to creating an attractive climate for investments, not swelling its ranks with bureaucrats.
But, for now, the news is at least positive for schools. Avoiding another round of proration would enable educators to begin restoring or replenishing some key programs for students. That’s important for everyone in Alabama. Strong schools are the foundation of growing a ready and able workforce, which is a leading factor in gaining new businesses and expansions.
Editorials
Alabama schools and the road ahead
- Editorials
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Taking the lead in education
The once-heralded ‘No Child Left Behind” education initiative from the federal level has just about run out of gas.
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Moving into the future
Hundreds of local high school seniors are accepting their diplomas and preparing to turn the page in the next chapter of their lives.
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Editorial: Seizure of AP phone records insult to independent press
This amounts to spying on an American news organization -- common practice in dictatorships but scary conduct in a democratic system that prizes the public value of an independent watchdog press.
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EDITORIAL: The IRS' Turn to Answer Questions
Washington is now sinking its teeth into a real scandal: the Internal Revenue Service using ideological criteria to choose the targets of its attention.
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Editorial: The house of death
The grisly details emerging from the murder trial of a Philadelphia abortion doctor place a glaring spotlight on a national disgrace.
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Editorial: Murder, insanity and guns
James Holmes, the accused movie theater shooter in Colorado, would like for the public to believe he killed a dozen people because he was insane.
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Lasting partnerships
Economic development officials have long noted the importance of expansions by existing industries and businesses in a community to lead growth.
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COMMENTARY: Why does young adult fiction keep giving its heroines makeovers?
Over at This Ain't Living, s.e. smith (who, full disclosure, has guest-blogged for me at ThinkProgress) has an excellent post about one of the most pernicious trends in young adult fiction.
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A spirit for moving forward
This weekend marked the two-year anniversary of a deadly day of tornadoes that streaked across Alabama, claiming lives and property and changing the landscape of many communities.
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Faith and bombs
The investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing is pointing to the all-too-familiar theme of religious faith playing a major role in violence.
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Taking the lead in education
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