5/23/13 Group Watch: AL Accountability Act Could be Limited
State education officials are looking at how to implement the Alabama Accountability Act. A member of the state board says the board may be able to narrow the scope of the law through non-legislative policy making. The board could use its policy making authority to limit how many students are affected by the law if problems surface related to broadness of its application. State school superintendent Dr. Tommy Bice said that his legal department will be working with the Department of Revenue to review the multiple areas of the law that were not clarified in the amendatory language. Bice said that once the review process is complete, they will follow the statutory process for administrative code revision and adoption associated with implementation. Included will be the determination of what constitutes a “failing school” under the law. The law defines failing schools as the bottom 6 percent of schools in reading and math if they have been in the bottom 6 percent for three of the last six years.
