State ponders takeover of the Bessemer School System

Alabama allows towns to form their own school systems. In the case of some wealthy suburbs the city system has the best facilities, some of the highest test scores in the state, and the best teachers and principals available in Alabama. In the case of Bessemer, however, the city school system has been historically bad for decades and it has gotten so bad that Alabama State Superintendent Eric Mackey is considering the possibility of a state takeover.

On Wednesday Bessemer school board members met with Mackey at a state board of education office in Birmingham.

The board has mismanaged the system for years. Maintenance has not been done on the aging buildings, employee morale is low, and the test scores are a drag on the rest of the state of Alabama.

The state has cited the board for repeatedly failing to show up for public meetings. Either they don't have a quorum to conduct meetings or members leave in the middle of the meeting so the meeting comes to a screeching halt before they get through their agenda – much less hear the concerns of the extremely frustrated parents.

All seven of the embattled school board members did actually attend the meeting with Mackey.

Mackey has given them a deadline to respond to the state's concerns before he makes his decision on whether or not to intervene.

Some in the community support a state takeover as the board has proven for years that it is unable to adequately govern the failing system.

The Central Alabama American Federation of Teachers told Channel 13 News that they are in favor of a state takeover.

In his letter, Dr. Mackey said there are dilapidated school buildings with roof and HVAC issues that the district need to address.

The Board still has done nothing to address those concerns even though Mackey gave them just 21 days to answer the issues that he has brough up.

According to a recent evaluation of one of Bessemer's elementary schools, GreatSchools.org said that "Students at this school are making far less academic progress given where they were last year, compared to similar students in the state. Very low progress with low test scores means students are starting at a low point and falling even farther behind their peers."

One possibility would be the failing system to be folded back into the larger Jefferson County System; but that would likely be opposed by both Bessemer officials and parents of students in Jefferson County schools. They could also fold it into the neighboring Birmingham City System; but that would be unlikely without folding the whole city of Bessemer (population 24,711) and city services in Birmingham.

Nothing that extreme is likely however, if the state takes over the failed system it will work to improve the administration, finances, and instruction before handing the system back to the local board after a few years of state department supervision.

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