Name:   Buteye - Subject:   Progressive Schooling Date:   2/11/2018 10:43:20 PM

Results of progressive schools has arrived in Montgomery, Alabama. The failure of Montgomery public schools has been building for several years. The state intervened in the local system about a year ago and it has been evaulated by interim State Superintendent Ed Richardson for the last several months. He said the system has been "bleeding students and dollars" and has ordered the termination of 17 central office positions, the sale of unused property or previously closed schools and the closure of fout MPS schools, plus other changes. MPS has 11 "failing" schools  which is 15 percent of all failing schools in Alabama. Chronic absenteeism along with discipline is a major problem with more than 28 percent of each school's students missing 15 or more days a year.                                                                                                                                                        In the 2015-2016 school year, MPS had a 78 percent graduation rate, but only 43 percent of those students were college and career ready. All five of the public high schools had less than 5 percent of its 10th-grade students proficient in math. The average 11th-grade ACT average score for all five public high schools is 14.9, a score that places them in the bottom 20 percent of all students nationally. According to Richardson, "these are the lowest student achievement scores i've seen in my 50-plus years of education". The average ACT score for incoming freshmen at Auburn University is 27. The LAMP Magnet School in Montgomery has am average ACT score of 28.2. According to Richardson, "We're sending students out with a diploma that has not prepared them for the basics of life, it's deceptive and dishonest".