State superintendent warns about upcoming costs
Alabama’s ambitions for high-quality education could be restrained by staffing shortages and a looming loss of federal relief funds, the state schools chief told legislators.
State Superintendent Eric Mackey on Thursday said the department was working toward goals outlined in a nearly 3-yearold strategic plan, but he added that the state continued to struggle to attract teachers, especially in rural areas.
Mackey referred to the “strategic plan” and gave lawmakers outlines of the goals for education in Alabama — including academic growth and achievement; college and workforce readiness; safe and supportive learning environments; and effective educators. The plan was unveiled the day the pandemic shut down schools in March 2020.
“We had the dubious distinction of rolling it out on March the 12th, 2020, the day before we closed the schools for the rest of the year,” he said. “So, nobody paid any attention to it.”
To help schools recover from the pandemic, the federal government passed the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund. The federal government distributed the funds in three separate rounds, providing over $3 billion to Alabama. The funds can be used to educate students and alleviate the effects of the pandemic.
The final round of funds must be budgeted by September 2024, or they will expire. According to the Alabama State Department of Education, around 37% of Alabama’s emergency relief funds have been spent.
Mackey said there are districts that have only spent around 25% of their funds.
“They still have 18 months,” Mackey said. “But that means in the next 18 months, they have to spend 75% of their money.”
Some of the slow spending has been the result of supply chain problems, Mackey said. The United States Department of Education has also encouraged districts to spend the funds on personnel, but many rural districts have struggled to attract teachers.
“Some of our very rural communities can’t find more people to hire,” he said. “In other words, they’re even having a hard time finding teacher assistants, not just certified teachers.”
Federal money has been spent on summer reading camps created by the 2019 Alabama Literacy Act. Under the law, third graders who do not read at grade level by the end of the year are held back, with some exceptions. The state has operated summer reading camps with this goal in mind. According to Mackey’s presentation, at least 6,300 kindergarteners, 8,700 first graders, 8,400 second graders and 8,200 third graders have been served by the camps. The state spent $18 million on the camp in 2022.
Summer reading camps funded with federal money are scheduled to operate this year and in 2024.
The Numeracy Act, passed last year, aims to improve math instruction in Alabama schools. The state will open summer math camps this year, paid for through state funds.
Mackey said the federal emergency funds can pay for the camps through the next two years. But in 2025, the camps will need to be funded by the state because the emergency funds will be gone. State legislators will need to find $48 million for the math and reading camps that year.
“That’s why we’re always trying to focus on what’s coming down the road,” he said.