Community Blogs
Read blogs posts annistonstar.com Community Bloggers.
Behind The Star by Bob Davis
The Bitter End by Ben Cunningham
Chris on Tech by Chris Williams
The Church Lady by Jan Case
Clip2Save by Theresa Shadrix
Community Connections by Anna-Marie Moorer
Faith and Family by John Bagwell
Garden Goings On by Paula Barnett-Ellis and Sherry Blanton
Kaleidoscopic by Brian Robinson
Mileage by Mercy Pilkington
Munford Mixer by Jami Van Brocklin
Musings by Debra Parker Thomas
Prevention Works! by Julie Hope
Savory Servings by RaDonna Ridner-Thurman
Tri Talk by Brooke Nelson
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Blogs
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Recent Blog Posts
Alabama House approves bill that would ban elective abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy by AnnistonStar
Apr 08, 2011 | 
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A bill that would ban elective abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on what the sponsor said was "scientific evidence" showing an unborn fetus feels pain was approved today by the Alabama House.
The bill by Rep. Kerry Rich, R-Albertville, was approved on a 69-19 vote after the Repu... | 6 |
Sterilization problem led to IV infections, Alabama health department says by AnnistonStar
Apr 08, 2011 |
A failure in the sterilization process at a Birmingham pharmacy appears to have caused the infection that sickened 19 people in Alabama hospitals, nine of whom died, the state health department said Thursday.
Investigators found exact matches of the bacteria on a water faucet, a container a... | 5 |
Alabama House shouts 'No!' to temporary pay cut by AnnistonStar
Apr 07, 2011 |
The Alabama House this morning shouted down a proposed resolution that would have rolled back legislative pay by 15 percent until Sept. 30.
The House refused to consider a resolution offered by Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, that would have tracked the 15 percent cut imposed by Gov. Robe... | 5 |
Robert Bentley forms coastal insurance commission; special legislative session on issue planned by AnnistonStar
Apr 07, 2011 |
Gov. Robert Bentley created a commission today to study coastal insurance issues, which spokeswoman Jennifer Ardis described as a prelude to a special session of the Legislature that Bentley has promised for later this year to address the problem.
“The lack of affordable homeowners insurance ... | 5 |
Aliceville man arrested, charged with supplying drugs to teen girls by AnnistonStar
Apr 07, 2011 |
A 23-year-old man has been charged with furnishing drugs to two teenage girls — one of whom almost died from an overdose.
Jerry Dewayne McGatha, 23, was charged with two counts of furnishing a controlled substance to a minor, which is a Class A felony, and two counts of contributing to the del... | 5 |
Alabama Senate panel OKs Gov. Robert Bentley's first operating budget but full Senate likely to make changes by AnnistonStar
Apr 07, 2011 |
The Senate's Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee today approved Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley's proposed operating budget and the General Fund for non-education agencies for next year.
But senators plan to rewrite the bill Thursday when the full 35-member Senate debates the spending pl... | 5 |
No one hurt; school bus a total loss in Talladega collision by AnnistonStar
Apr 06, 2011 |
A school bus versus industrial machinery accident Tuesday morning on Alabama 21 resulted in no injuries, although the bus was totaled. Talladega Police Chief Alan Watson said the collision happened about 7 a.m. Tuesday. The bus was in the northbound lane and a wide load truck was approachin... | 4 |
Alabama Power, ADEM to challenge EPA regulation on smoke emissions by AnnistonStar
Apr 06, 2011 |
Alabama Power Co. and the state of Alabama are planning to challenge a policy reversal by the Environmental Protection Agency that further regulates how often industrial plants can emit a thicker, darker smoke.
The EPA in 2008, near the end of the administration of then-President George W... | 4 |
Alabama tax collections for education show little change from last year's pace by AnnistonStar
Apr 05, 2011 |
Tax collections for the state Education Trust Fund are showing little change from last year's pace, but key lawmakers Monday predicted the fund would grow enough in coming months to avoid yet another cut in budgeted spending.
Tax collections for the trust fund totaled $2.57 billion in Octob... | 5 |
Fired Dothan policeman arrested in Georgia by AnnistonStar
Apr 04, 2011 |
A former Dothan police officer fired from his job last year for using excessive force has been arrested in Forest Park, Ga., on a charge of impersonating a police officer.
David Darby was arrested by Forest Park police at Crazy Horse Saloon, not far from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Internation... | 6 | Follow Us
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Today's Events
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Tuesday, 18, 2013
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Pond Spring- The Gener... 3:50 PM
Oxford Farmers market 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM
Join us for the kick-off of Oxford's first...
Oxford Farmers market 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM Join us for the kick-off of Oxford's first...
Anniston Middle School
Editorial: The shattered world of Anniston Middle School
Jun 18, 2013 | 391 views | 
| 11 | | Anniston Middle School
Last month, after decades of debate, the Anniston Board of Education voted to close the school on Alabama 21 and move its students to other campuses as part of a system-wide reorganization and cost-cutting measure.
Last week, Superintendent Joan Frazier announced her retirement for June 2014, meaning someone else -- possibly from outside the system hierarchy -- will shepherd the system through the middle school’s closure.
And Tuesday, the state Board of Education included Anniston Middle on its list of “failing” schools that, as part of the Alabama Accountability Act, will allow parents zoned for AMS to receive tax credits if they transfer elsewhere.
For the Anniston Board of Education, the state board’s list of 78 “failing” schools represents two different headlines -- both significant. No other Anniston schools made the list. (For that matter, Anniston Middle was the only school in Calhoun County to be deemed “failing” by the state board.)
Anniston High School, whose dropout and graduation rates have long been serious civic concerns, and the system’s five elementary schools are free of both the stigma and the practicality of being considered “failing” institutions. We are glad that’s the case.
But the other headline didn’t bring a sigh of relief to a city desperate to use public education in its efforts to reinvent the city’s outlook on vital matters such as job creation, economic growth and crime reduction. A city without vibrant and well-supported public schools is a city that struggles to educate its children and sustain its future. A city without successful public schools is a city that faces stagnation and decline, not prosperity.
That is Anniston’s struggle today.
Our advice is to consider Anniston Middle School’s label as a “failing” school as part old news and part opportunity. Don’t overreact.
Instead, see Anniston Middle as what it is -- a school already destined for closure. That’s not a rationalization; it’s a fact. What’s important now is the system’s still-developing reorganization that, once completed, is expected to lessen the system’s fiscal concerns.
More important, still, is this community’s understanding that the education of the children within Anniston’s public schools must be a grade-A priority. It is not the priority solely of the city’s educators or its black community, whose children are overwhelmingly the majority of the city’s schools. It must be a priority for all who want Anniston to prosper.
Make no mistake: We are disappointed that the state considers Anniston Middle School a “failing” school. But we cannot lose focus on the larger, vital picture -- the reinvention of Anniston’s school system and the improvement of its public education. The ailments are well known. Repairing them with hard work and rational decisions is the key.
