A Recap of the State Board Of Education's
November 2007 Meeting

STATE BOARD WILL REQUEST $245 MILLION IN ETF FUNDING FOR K-12

 At Thursday’s K-12 meeting, the state Board of Education unanimously approved $244,969,138 in proposed new requests and increases for the fiscal year 2009 budget. State Superintendent Dr. Joe Morton said the budget request will now go to the governor for his consideration.

Morton admitted the proposed budget “may be a little aggressive” — since pundits predict a budget shortfall this year and in ’09 due to slowed revenue growth — but said he didn’t want to under-request and risk leaving programs unfunded.

A few highlights of the funding request for ’09:

• An additional $13 million to expand the dropout prevention pilot program from 25 to 200 graduation coaches. In 2008, the Legislature approved $550,000 to identify students in grades 9-12 who are dropout risks.
• The “other current expense” budget line used for such operational costs as utilities and support staff would increase by $25 million.
• Rising transportation costs would be addressed with a $29 million increase over the $345 million appropriated in 2008, and money for library enhancement would go from $200/unit to $300/unit.
• The divisors used to calculate state funding for middle school teachers would be lowered. The $22.6 million would add about 347 state-earned positions to grades 4-8.
• Rolled into the budget are recommendations of the Governor’s Commission on Quality Teaching to address teacher recruitment and retention concerns. The request includes increases of $5 million for teacher mentoring (extended to a two-year program), $3.8 million for recruitment and preparation initiatives and $2 million for teacher/student testing.

In other business, each member of the board expressed fond wishes and thanks for Assistant State Superintendent for Reading Dr. Katherine Mitchell, who is retiring Dec. 31 after more than 28 years of service to the state Department of Education. Mitchell is known statewide and nationally as the leading pioneer of the Alabama Reading Initiative.

In other discussion, board member Betty Peters said there is a mistake in The Bible Literacy Project publication on the list of texts recently approved by the state textbook committee. She said the teacher’s edition of “The Bible and Its Influence” implies Jesus was born in Nazareth, rather than Bethlehem of Judea. Morton noted teachers often are charged with clarifying such textual issues.

The board meets once in November and December. The last K-12 meeting of the year is Dec. 13.

— Denise L. Berkhalter
publicrelations@alabamaschoolboards.org