Big Week in Education: Legislative Session, ALBOE, and more

Weekly Updates from A+ Education Partnership

This was a busy week for education policy in Alabama. The beginning of the legislative session brought updated education budget conversations and the Governor's State of the State address. And yesterday, the Alabama State Board of Education held its March meeting. We've covered all of these important events for you.

Education Trust Fund Budget update: On the first day of the 2023 Legislative Session, legislators received an update about the state’s financial situation and the Governor’s FY2024 priorities. Read our recap of how these things will affect the education budget here.

Governor Ivey's State of the State: Governor Ivey gave her 2023 State of the State address on Tuesday and emphasized that education is her #1 priority for her last term in office. She spoke about expanding school choice, increasing teacher pay, requiring Kindergarten, and more. Read our recap of the speech here.

Key takeaways from the ALBOE meeting: The Alabama State Board of Education met yesterday. Members discussed K-3 ELA textbooks, first-grade readiness, and more. Read our key takeaways here.

This Week at A+

> A+ College Ready: This past weekend, A+ College Ready hosted over 150 educators at the annual Train the Trainer event. Dr. Bev Clemens from Marzano Resources led the professional learning around teacher development. These educators also worked within discipline-specific groups to build, revise, and refine A+ curricular materials.

> The Alabama Best Practices Center: The 2nd episode of the Better Practices | Brighter Students podcast is out! Bryan Goodwin of McREL International joined us to discuss engaging student curiosity and his new book The New Classroom Instruction That Works. Listen to the full episode here.

> A+ Student VOICES Team: Calling all Alabama high school students! 📣 Take the 2023 A+SVT Student Survey now to share your experiences within your school. It's a survey written BY high school students FOR high school students! To access and share your perspectives on the teacher shortage, student representation, and more, visit studentvoicesala.com.

STATE NEWS

Education Is the #1 Priority: 2023 State of the State Recap
(A+ Education Partnership, March 8)

Across the Board March 2023: Key Takeaways from the ALBOE Meeting
(A+ Education Partnership, March 9)

Budget Watch: Tracking the 2024 Education Trust Fund Budget
(written by Charity Gardner, A+ Education Partnership, March 7)

Alabama Bill Could Mandate ‘First Grade Readiness’
(written by Jemma Stephenson, Alabama Reflector, March 7)

Gov. Kay Ivey Supports More Charter School Funding and ‘the School Choice We Already Have’
(written by Trisha Powell Crain, al.com, March 7)

How to Track Education Bills, Issues in Alabama’s 2023 Legislative Session
(written by Trisha Powell Crain, al.com, March 6)

Alabama Legislature to Tackle Funding, School Choice, Divisive Concepts and More
(written by Trisha Powell Crain, al.com, March 6)

NATIONAL NEWS

Math Scores Dropped During the Pandemic. Colorado Plans to Invest in Tutoring, Teacher Training.
(written by Erica Meltzer, Chalkbeat, March 7)

Biden requests $90B for Education Department in FY24 budget
(written by Kara Arundel and Anna Merod, Education Dive, March 9)

‘The Other Long Covid’ Affecting Kids: Missed Opportunities
(written by John Daily, The 74, March 3)

K-12 Enrollment Lagged Projections by 2% In 2021, Revealing College Pipeline Cracks
(written by Rick Seltzer, Education Dive, March 1)

How Tapping Into Family Engagement Can Boost Literacy, Math Learning
(written by Anna Merod, Education Dive, March 1)

OPINIONS

To Make Schools Inclusive, Listen to Students
(written by Ileana Najarro, Education Week, March 7)

STUDENT VOICES: We need more women in STEM fields, and we have ideas for making that happen
(written by Emerald Yankey and Henrietta Rasmusson, The Hechinger Report, March 7)

PODCASTS

Better Practices | Brighter Students: Episode 2 With Bryan Goodwin
(From Alabama Best Practices Center, Feburary 2022)

RESOURCES

A+ COVID School Spending Tracker

A+ Advocate Toolkit

The Gist is an education news roundup curated by A+ Education Partnership. Articles and opinions included in this publication are for information only and may not reflect the views of A+.

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