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Education department touts reading gains, warns about exemptions and seeks funds for school safety; cell-phone policy debate surfaces
Summary
Dr. Mackey of the Alabama State Department of Education reported measurable reading gains and recovery in early grades but expressed concern that widespread good‑cause exemptions limited third-grade retention; he requested school-safety funding and discussed legal limits on a statewide phone ban.
Dr. Mackey, representing the Alabama State Department of Education, told a joint legislative committee that recent test results show areas of improvement while underscoring continuing work on early reading, algebra readiness and college- and career-readiness indicators.
Why it matters: Department officials said earlier interventions — screening, summer reading camps and targeted instruction — are producing gains, but legal exemptions and local implementation choices are shaping retention outcomes. The department also placed a large school-safety request before the legislature and raised operational funding needs for transportation, special programs and workforce-development work.
Mackey recapped the department’s strategic priorities: early math and reading, college-and-career readiness (CCR), safe and supportive learning environments, and building an effective educator pipeline. He said summer reading camps produced measurable growth, especially when students are reached in kindergarten or first grade, and emphasized that earlier intervention is more effective than remediation beginning in third grade.
The department reported that substantially fewer students were retained at the end of third grade than originally projected because principals used good‑cause exemptions and portfolios to promote many students. Mackey said fewer than 1% of students were retained after those exemptions; he warned the committee the department is tracking those promoted students through fourth grade under required Student Reading Intervention Plans (SRIPs) to monitor progress.
Mackey also described the CCR requirement in state law: by the class of 2027, students must demonstrate college- or career-readiness to graduate. He noted concern that high school graduation rates (about 90%) outpace CCR indicators; if CCR rates do not rise, annual graduation reports for future cohorts may fall.
On school safety, Mackey said the department is implementing last year’s comprehensive school-safety law with mapping and security rubrics and requested a placeholder of roughly $52 million for broader safety and security funding (he acknowledged the $52 million figure was a placeholder to be refined in appropriations discussions). He also highlighted transportation cost pressures (school-bus prices have risen substantially) and requested continued foundation-program support.
During a question-and-answer exchange, the committee addressed classroom cell phones. Mackey said the core problem is not the device alone but the content and immediacy available on smartphones: "They're not phones, they're supercomputers," he said, and they can amplify bullying and disrupt instruction. He told senators and representatives that a 1990s statute left electronic-device policy to local school boards; the department does not have unilateral authority to impose a statewide ban. He said some districts have enacted local bans and that preliminary data from two districts that implemented bans showed discipline referrals fell by about 85% in the affected schools.
Mackey asked the legislature to consider whether a statewide policy change is needed; several members indicated interest in pursuing statutory authority to set a consistent, statewide standard for device use during instructional time.
Mackey closed by restating the department motto, "Every child, every chance, every day," and said continued investment, focus, and strategy are required to sustain improvement across the P–12 system.
