The Alabama State Board of Education: Responsibilities and Oversight of Public Education

The Alabama State Board of Education plays a crucial role in managing and supervising the state's public K-12 education system. This article delves into the board's composition, responsibilities, historical evolution, and current challenges in ensuring quality education for all students in Alabama.

Composition and Election of the Board

The Alabama State Board of Education is an elected executive agency of the Alabama state government. The board is composed of nine members, including the governor, who serves as the president of the board. The other members are elected to four-year terms by voters in one of the state's eight education districts, all of which are similar in population. Elections to the board are staggered, with Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7 holding elections in presidential election years, while Districts 2, 4, 6, and 8 hold elections in midterm years. The State Board of Education shall be composed of the Governor as an ex officio member and eight members elected from districts provided by general law. Members of the board shall serve for terms of four years each, and the member from each district shall be elected by the qualified electors of the district at the general election immediately preceding the expiration of the term of office of the member, as designated by the board, representing such district on the board and every four years thereafter. The qualifications for serving on the board are laid out in Section 16-3-3 of the 1975 Code of Alabama. Board members must be eligible voters living within the district they represent. The members of the board shall be qualified electors of the State of Alabama, and each member shall be a qualified elector in the district which he represents. No person who is an employee of the board or who is or has been engaged as a professional educator within five years next preceding the date of the election shall be eligible for membership on the board.

Alabama elects members to four-year terms on the State Board of Education in all even-numbered years. Members representing odd-numbered districts are elected on presidential election years, while members representing even-numbered districts are elected on midterm election years.

Recent and Upcoming Elections

Several elections for the Alabama State Board of Education have taken place recently or are scheduled for the near future:

2024 Elections: Elections were held for Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7. In some cases, primary elections were canceled due to candidates running unopposed. For example, incumbent Jackie Zeigler (R) advanced from the Republican primary for Alabama State Board of Education District 1 without appearing on the ballot. Similarly, incumbent Tonya Smith Chestnut (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for District 5 without appearing on the ballot.
2026 Elections: Elections are scheduled for Districts 2, 4, 6, and 8. The primary will occur on May 19, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

Vacancy Appointments

The procedure for vacancy appointments is laid out in Section 16-3-5 of the Alabama Code. In the event of a vacancy on the board, the governor may appoint a member to fill the remainder of the term. The appointee must be confirmed by the state Senate. Section 290-010-010 of the Alabama Code lays out the procedure for handling vacancies of board members who are also officers. Should the office of vice president of the board become vacant at any time, the president pro tempore serves the remainder of the vice president's term.

Responsibilities and Authority

The duties of the board are laid out in the Alabama Code. The board is also responsible for selecting the state superintendent, who acts as the chief executive officer of both the board and the Alabama Department of Education. Section 16-4-1 grants the board authority to select and dismiss state superintendents, who serve at the pleasure of the board. Section 16-3-8 entitles members of the board to a $10 per diem compensation for each day they spend conducting board business. The Alabama State Board of Education derives its foundational authority from Article XIV of the Alabama Constitution of 1901, which mandates the establishment of a uniform system of public schools and vests general supervision of those schools in the board. Specifically, Section 260 provides that "general supervision of the public schools in Alabama shall be vested in a state board of education," with members to be elected in a manner prescribed by the legislature, ensuring statewide oversight of elementary and secondary education.

The primary function of the school board is to oversee the education of students in the community. for the school system and its students and ensuring that system personnel have the resources they need to achieve that vision. which was a collaboration between AASB and the School Superintendents of Alabama. AASB interviewed several current school board members about what they found most surprising when starting out as new school board members. There is often a misunderstanding of what school boards have the power to do.

Key Aspects of Governance

The Governance Act collects in one place the responsibilities of all city and county school boards.

It’s important to note that the board and superintendent work together as a team.
As a governing body, the board is neither responsible for nor involved in the day-to-day operations of the school system.
Legally, board members have no role in identifying or interviewing applications for system jobs. whether the presented applicant is qualified for the recommended position.
The vision and goals for the school system, determined by the board-superintendent team, should be reflected in the systems’ annual budget.
Odds are you are interested in running for the board because you see problems that need to be addressed. problems. Rather, it is to enable the professionals in the school system to solve the problems brought to their attention.

Misconceptions About Board Power

There is often a misunderstanding of what school boards have the power to do. Can’t make decisions on behalf of the board or school system. Tenure law gives board members the role of judge and jury in employee termination or disciplinary actions. you as a board member must be neutral and make decisions based solely on evidence presented at the hearing. that board members are to make decisions based on what’s best for the system and students as a whole. Can’t mandate that the superintendent make a specific recommendation.

Historical Context and Evolution

The Alabama State Board of Education is an administrative agency created by the Constitution of Alabama that is responsible for supervising the state's public school system. The state's 1868 constitution, adopted during Reconstruction, created an elected Board of Education and an elected Superintendent of Public Instruction to manage the state's public school system and higher education institutions. There were twelve members of the Board, with two elected from each of the state's six congressional districts to four year terms. Voters continued electing the Superintendent until 1970. The Reconstruction-era Constitution of 1868 established an elected State Board of Education tasked with overseeing public schools and appointing the state superintendent, reflecting centralized Republican efforts to expand educational access. Twentieth-century centralization accelerated through legislative measures, including enhanced state oversight for desegregation compliance after Brown v.

Read also: UW-Madison Tuition Requirements

The Civil War and immediate postwar chaos disrupted these structures, with schools closing amid economic collapse and emancipation challenging prior racial exclusions. In the early 20th century, Alabama's public education system underwent gradual centralization efforts to address fragmented local control, chronic underfunding, and inefficient rural school districts. The 1935 legislative reorganization marked a pivotal step toward centralization by strengthening the State Board of Education's administrative authority, including the creation of a more empowered state superintendent and unified policies for school accreditation and resource distribution, responding to Depression-era fiscal crises that exposed local districts' inability to sustain operations. Desegregation challenges intensified after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling, with the Alabama State Board of Education unanimously voting on July 9, 1954, to maintain segregated schools, reflecting widespread Southern opposition rooted in states' rights doctrines and fears of social disruption. Initial compliance was minimal; by 1963, Alabama's public schools remained fully segregated, prompting lawsuits like Lee v. District Judge Frank M.

Partisan Shifts

Democrats held a majority on the Board from 1971 to 1997, when Bradley Byrne, who had been elected as a Democrat, switched to the Republican Party.

Current Challenges and Initiatives

Persistent racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps in Alabama public schools have fueled debates over the definition and measurement of educational equity. Funding mechanisms exacerbate these debates, as Alabama's system heavily depends on local property taxes, resulting in substantial per-pupil spending disparities between wealthy suburban districts and impoverished rural ones. In 1997, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in ACE v.

Achievement and Performance

Alabama's student achievement on national assessments has shown gradual improvements since the early 2000s, though it continues to lag behind national averages in key areas. On the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Alabama's 4th-grade reading scores rose from 207 in 2003 to 212 in 2019, but remained below the national average of 219; similarly, 8th-grade reading scores increased from 252 to 253, compared to the national 262. In mathematics, 4th-grade scores improved from 223 in 2003 to 234 in 2019 (national: 239), and 8th-grade from 263 to 274 (national: 282), reflecting modest gains amid broader national stagnation post-2010. ACT performance, a key college readiness benchmark, has hovered below national norms. Alabama's average composite score was 18.0 in 2022, versus the national 19.8, with declines from 20.0 in 2018 attributed to pandemic disruptions and uneven recovery. Participation rates exceed 80% statewide, providing a broad sample, but proficiency in English (61% at or above benchmark in 2022) and math (21%) trails national figures of 66% and 26%, respectively. Comparisons to national benchmarks highlight persistent gaps, particularly for subgroups. Alabama ranks in the bottom quartile of states on NAEP, with Black students scoring 30-40 points below white national averages, exacerbating equity concerns despite targeted programs like the 2019 Plan 2020. Post-pandemic, 2022 NAEP results showed Alabama's 4th-grade math scores dropping to 230 (national: 235), underscoring vulnerabilities in foundational skills. The Board's accountability framework, including A-F school grading and interventions in persistently low-performing districts (e.g., state takeovers in Birmingham and Montgomery since 2015 and 2022), has yielded mixed but positive causal effects on quality metrics.

Educator Preparation

In response to persistent teacher shortages and outdated standards, the Alabama State Board of Education approved significant revisions to educator preparation rules in March 2025 by repealing and replacing Chapter 290-3-3 of the Alabama Administrative Code, which governs certification processes unchanged for decades. These updates align certification with the state's revised K-12 academic standards, emphasizing content knowledge, classroom management, and high-impact instructional practices, while introducing flexible pathways such as alternative teacher preparation organizations (ATPOs).

Read also: Westfield State University Legacy

tags: #state #of #alabama #board #of #education