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This article originally appeared in the Montgomery Advertiser on May 15, 2001.

Time to Invest in Our Local Schools
By Cathy Gassenheimer, A+ Education Partnership

If you've visited a public school lately, or talked to a public school parent, teacher or student, then you know that schools in Montgomery are getting better. The graduation rate of MPS students is now at 89%, up 10 percentage points from just five years ago. Public school enrollment is now stable, and for the past three years, there has been a positive shift of students from private schools to public schools.

In Montgomery, we have seen a significant improvement in student achievement over the past several years. Test scores are improving -- on both the Alabama High School Graduation Exam and Stanford 9 achievement test. In Montgomery, 95% and 93% of this year's seniors passed the high school exam and 81% of high school juniors passed the reading portion of the exam on the first try. And, SAT-9 scores have improved more than 6 percentage points over the past five years.

This year, Partners in Education trained over 500 tutors to work in Montgomery public schools and that figure is expected to double next year. The Montgomery Education Foundation has provided additional support to the schools by funding a leadership program for every Montgomery principal and providing incentive money to help schools implement school improvement plans. Montgomery has a strong and committed school board, working hard to make every Montgomery school top-notch.

The funding crisis in Alabama now places us at a crossroads. Will we be able to sustain these gains next year?

For students, starting a new school year is always exciting-seeing old friends, entering new classrooms, walking down newly mopped floors and meeting new students..

Children in Montgomery County's public schools may be surprised when they return to school next year. The first thing that will catch their eyes? Untrimmed grass has taken over the school yard. A window broken by a confused bird has been replaced by splintery plywood instead of glass.

They won't be comforted by what they see inside. The school secretary, a hardworking woman who never forgot to smile, might not be sitting behind her desk. There may be a half-dozen buckets dotting the hall when it rains, catching the results of deferred maintenance.

When they step into their classrooms, they may notice other things that are missing. The new textbooks that had been selected to replace older versions won't be available. Their favorite teacher has abandoned their school for a suburban system where she won't have to stretch her own hard-earned wages to purchase the laboratory supplies that are so important to student learning.

By the end of the first week, many students may already feel frustrated. Some struggle through their homework assignments just like they did last spring, when summer school was cancelled due to a lack of funding. They misbehave so that they don't have to read in front of the class.

Montgomery County's children aren't the only ones who are feeling-or will soon feel-the sting of proration, mandatory cuts to the state's education budget. Across Alabama, citizens are reeling as they discover the details of Alabama's latest financial crisis.

Though we can't precisely predict economic downturns, we know they are certain to occur. The refusal of voters to increase local revenues for our schools, combined with a lack of state leadership in ensuring schools' financial stability, created a climate ripe for a crisis.

Over the past several months, legislators dallied away an eleven-day special session and failed to take any action in solving the education budget crisis. The Alabama Education Association launched an attack campaign on higher education institutions, distorting the facts in an attempt to divide our educational community. Meanwhile, state revenues continued to dive.

Checks were delayed. We're now hearing warnings about a prorated budget for next year-even before the next budget is passed. And our public schools and colleges have been pitted against each other and are duking it out in court as a judge ponders over who should feel the hit of this fiscal disaster.

Salaries and benefits for school personnel make up about 85% of most school systems' budgets and this money can't be touched. As it stands right now, state allowances for other parts of the school budget are being cut by at least 11.17%. That's a painful blow-especially this far into the fiscal year.

What real consequences are Montgomery County students and teachers experiencing because of this crisis? Slashes in professional development, library, and technology programs. No new textbooks or instructional materials. Delays of maintenance and facility repairs. It is estimated that the deferred maintenance for Montgomery schools totals over $120 million.

And that's not all. Other cuts may be made to tutoring and/or other after-school programs. Much-needed books to fuel the enhanced reading capacity of students will not be available. And it means pink slips for a large number of administrators, support personnel, and untenured teachers at the end of this school year.

This crisis has heightened the public's awareness of the real problems related to school funding, particularly local support in Montgomery's case. Will Montgomery leaders respond by agreeing to increase local support for our schools and demanding that the state do the same?

There is hope on the horizon. The City Council on Tuesday has the opportunity to step in and provide temporary relief. Our city leaders should rise to the occasion and at the same time demand that our state leaders take the necessary steps to bring fiscal stability to the education budget.

The solution is nothing more than the common sense Alabama families use every day -- Set aside money for a rainy day, align spending with children as the highest priority, stabilize current sources of income and grow them, plan ahead and be accountable. Both the short-term solution and long-term solutions are within our reach. Will we finally seize the moment?

A+ is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works to improve the quality of education for all children in Alabama.