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Leaders of Alabama’s capital city are apparently ready to explore creating their own school system.
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed told APR on Monday that legislation should be coming this week that would allow Montgomery to start a city-operated school system, abandoning the beleaguered county system that has drawn the ire of many residents, city officials and business leaders.
“It’s needed. It’s necessary,” Reed said of a city-operated system. “We have to do something to restore the public’s faith in our schools. We’ve heard from so many people who are unhappy with the current state of affairs and want a change. This is something that would allow for such a change, that would allow us to do things that would help us continue to attract the businesses and new residents that we need.”
Details of the legislation were not readily available and no bill had been filed as of late Monday evening. Reed said he expected state Sen. Kirk Hatcher, who represents the Montgomery area, to carry the bill, but attempts to reach Hatcher on Monday were unsuccessful.
But this is not the first time city leaders have kicked around the idea of breaking away from the county system. Montgomery’s public schools, thanks to a litany of unique and purposeful obstacles, have been troubled for years, leading to residents and city leaders taking out frustrations on MPS leadership, and particularly the MPS board.
The blame is often misguided and unfair, given the realities. Montgomery is home to a large number of private schools – many of which began as segregation academies – and to an independent magnet school program. That removes some 30-40 percent of the system’s top students, and it leaves in place a large number of learning disabled students and free- and reduced-lunch students.
But at the same time, city officials and business leaders have had issues with some MPS board members who have chosen personal grievances and petty fights over a more collaborative management of the system. That has been particularly true of late, with the departure of a very popular superintendent following a clash with board members and the hiring of what appeared to be a pre-selected new superintendent.
Reed, Montgomery County Commission Chairman Doug Singleton and Montgomery Chamber of Commerce President Anna Buckalew were all publicly critical of both decisions. And those frustrations, along with worries about the future direction of the system and what that might mean for the city’s future, are driving the current push to break away.
“We have some truly great, great things in the hopper for this city and we just can’t allow those things to be undone by our school system going in the wrong direction,” Reed said. “It’s imperative that we gain the confidence of our citizens so we can continue to move forward.”
