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This week, I handed over the newsletter to Hechinger contributor Kavitha Cardoza, who shared her recent story about a superintendent who was fired after gaining national attention for her work with English learners. — Javilia Salman
When I spoke with Heath Grimes, the superintendent of Russellville City Schools in Alabama, in June 2023, he had already received several accolades for his work with English learners. So I was surprised when he told me at the end of the call that his contract had not been renewed. This happened while he was serving as president-elect of the Alabama School Principals Association. He was visibly surprised, too.
I’ve been covering English learners for years and knew that their educational outcomes often lag behind their non-English learner peers because school districts don’t always provide training or have the resources to support them. Yet this conservative Alabama community of 11,000, where 33% of students are English learners, has seen huge success. What went wrong?
I started researching, and after months of reporting and studying, I was finally able to visit Russellville in March 2024. It reminded me of my eight years of reporting in rural Illinois: Family roots went back generations, people valued tradition and “the way things have always been done,” and everyone came out to support the high school football team. When Grimes resurfaced the football field so that the newly formed football team could play there, too, it seemed an apt metaphor for the changes taking place in the broader community.
When a former board member told me, “People bleed black and gold” (the school’s colors), he was only slightly exaggerating. I learned how important the Russellville school system is to the fabric of the community. As the community dealt with demographic change, the school board provided leadership and stability, and educators designed new teaching methods and created award-winning curriculum to support English learners. I learned how parents of English learners (often very poor, immigrants who work long shifts and don’t speak English) proudly give of their time and resources to the district when given the opportunity. I learned that what happens inside school buildings is only part of the story and is inseparable from the education policies that happen outside of them.
I spoke with dozens of educators, board members, and parents, as well as a woman who worked at the hotel where I stayed (her niece was in high school), a cashier at the Taco Bell where I ate every night who was a former student, and a couple buying school supplies in the Walmart parking lot.
Figuring out why a full-time superintendent was fired was both exhausting and exciting. I gradually gained the trust of people within the community and the school system, and about 18 people, many of whom knew the circumstances of the incident, told me that small-town politics and anti-immigrant sentiment led to the superintendent’s departure. (Russellville’s mayor and the school board’s attorney responded to my questions by saying that English learners had been successful in the district long before Grimes and that anti-immigrant sentiment played no role in the decision not to renew his contract.)
Read my story, which is part of a collaboration between Hechinger and Word, an initiative of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and AL.com. You can also find it in Spanish. I’d love to hear your reactions and ideas for other stories you think we should cover about English learners, school leaders and other topics. Just reply to this email to stay in touch.
Here are some things that caught my eye in a new report from the Center for Reinventing Public Education: the idea of “redesigning schools for the age of generative AI.” The report’s authors say that means teachers and schools must emphasize “skills that only the human mind possesses,” like critical and creative thinking, to help students learn to use AI. Some districts, like the Houston Independent School District and Gwinnett County Public Schools, have already started such initiatives. It reminded me of the calls during the pandemic to redesign schools to better meet student needs, but in the end, school systems saw little change. The report highlights some of the most positive reflections on how AI can address challenges school systems have faced for years, including teacher shortages and academic transitions.
In other news: The Department of Education announced this week that it will once again change the way the 2025-26 FAFSA form is issued and processed in an effort to minimize some of the problems caused by the confusion surrounding the release of the 2024-25 form. The application will be available to a limited number of students and colleges during a trial period starting Oct. 1 and will be available to all students Dec. 1, according to the department.
More about the future of learning
“Many children cannot read even in high school. Is teaching reading in all classes the solution?”, The Hechinger Report
“What Education Will Look Like Under Harris and Waltz,” Hechinger Report
“What Education Will Look Like Under Trump and Vance,” The Hechinger Report
“California’s two largest school districts made mistakes in their AI deals. Here’s what you learn from your mistakes,” CalMatters
“New St. Paul Public Schools plan will focus on black culture and history,” Sahan Magazine
“What Does the Universal Service Fund Ruling Mean for E-Rates?”, K-12 Dive
This story about the Russellville principal was produced by The Hechinger Report, an independent, nonprofit news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.
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