Since the last legislative update, the people of Alabama have seen many actions taken by legislators related to the education system, namely the Accounting Act and the Education Trust Fund.

In April, an Alabama law and budget for the Education Trust Fund was signed into law by Governor Kay Ivey. Both were sponsored by Senator Arthur Orr (R-3), chairman of the Senate Finance and Taxation and Education Committee.

“We are 52nd in the nation for 8th grade math,” Orr said in an update this morning. “We will put resources behind this law to get math coaches, improve teacher training and accountability.”

Orr said legislators had previously passed literacy laws that prevented students from advancing to fourth grade if they could not read by the end of third grade.

He went on to explain.

He explained that the calculus law caused legislators to intervene further, saying that after years of intervention and support from state boards of education, if schools still did not meet acceptable math proficiency, the “state It will require a takeover and restructuring of the of that school. In other words, everyone walks because they fail. ”

There are currently 28 schools in Alabama, and none of them are proficient in 8th grade math.

“What kind of education do those kids have? “We have to demand accountability. We provided resources, but we have to demand accountability on the backend.”

House Speaker Mac McCutcheon explained that previously Alabama didn’t have the funding needed for education, which made it 52nd in math education and 50th overall. We have a solid education budget.”

McCutcheon explained that he was embarrassed while discussing math scores during the legislative session, explaining that “they started digging deep and taking education seriously in terms of reading efforts and scores.”

During the debate, legislators found that Alabama was suffering from a shortage of qualified math teachers to teach at the required level.

“We have to start with some programs to have qualified teachers in our classrooms. Second, we have to take responsibility for the products these schools are producing,” McCutcheon said. says.

The Education Trust Fund worked to recruit and retain Alabama educators.

“I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for. If you want to get serious about your ability to attract and retain educators, you need to invest heavily in supporting these individuals. .

McCutcheon assured attendees that each member of Congress in attendance was dedicated to supporting the education system.

“I have never seen an issue as carefully approached as education,” he said.