State superintendent says Bessemer City Schools making progress during takeover
State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey spoke at the Alabama Board of Education Thursday about the progress made in the Bessemer City School system since the state took over six months ago.
"We continue to work on the financial situation there, and it is much better," Mackey said. "Also, they got their budget in on time this year and they got an updated salary schedule, there were salary problems there and there wasn't a lot of order to how people were getting paid, all of that has been straightened out."
While Mackey claims they're seeing progress, the Central Alabama American Federation for Teachers said it isn't enough.
"The picture he is painting is extremely distorted," AFT President Erika Hughes said." The state has yet to go to all employees, especially those on the front lines to hear and address issues that are facing their day-to-day operations."
Video below: Dr. Eric Mackey sits down with 米兰体育 13 to discuss potential changes at the U.S. Department of Education
When the state took over, some Bessemer schools lacked proper air conditioning, while many systems were dilapidated and in need of major repair or total replacement. More recently, in November, a school reported facing a months-long snake infestation.
Hughes travelled to Montgomery Thursday to voice her current concerns about the takeover to the state board, but was told she couldn't address them during the meeting.
"I drove 100 miles, over 100 miles today to try to be the voice for Bessemer city employees, for all of our members and was yet silenced because it wasn't on the agenda," Hughes said. "The state superintendent spoke on it so I should've been allowed to speak on that."
During Mackey's statements about the current situation in Bessemer he said though progress has been made, there is still much work to be done. That's backed up by the Cognia accreditation report the school system received last month.
"Outside Cognia review group from out of state said that the board continues to not be able to function on its own, [that's] not something that was surprising to me," Mackey said. "I would've given them a one. I thought the outside reviewers gave them a lot of grace."
Mackey said he expects the takeover in Bessemer to take years.