FM Talk 1065 Podcasts
State Rep. Terri Collins - Jeff Poor Show - Tuesday 6-25-24
[music] Welcome back to the Jup4 Show, and if I'm talking about 06.5, thanks for sticking around on this Tuesday morning. You want to give me a touch of the program. Keep the text coming. I've got a bunch of text here. I will get to those shortly, I promise. So the feedback is appreciated. Still a couple of the program, about an hour from now, out of the state Senate, President, President Greg Reed will be with us. I haven't heard from him in a long time, but he's making time for us today. And then at 11 o'clock hour, Alba Republican Party Chairman John Wall will spend some time with us as he does every week. So that's coming up on the program this morning. Joining us now, one of my favorite guests, he's always very kind to talk to this audience down in Mobile, but State Representative Terry Collins is on the line with us. Representative, good morning, how are you? Good morning, Dad. I'm doing well. How are you? Live in the dream, as I like to tell people. Live in the dream. I love it. Well, before we get into the, what I want to have you on for the obligatory question, you recover from the 2024 legislative session yet. I would say no. I'm still trying to recover. I have been all over doing legislative updates and describing it as really one of the worst I've ever had. But anyway, it was just so contentious the whole time that I am working on getting over it. How about that? A positive response there. Yeah, I mean, it was, it was, I know it was contagious, but I mean, sometimes the Alabama legislature is, but I tell you from that halfway point, right after the softball game all the way to the end, it was like kind of an intensity. Like you sit on your edge of the seat, wait to see what's going to come, what the next thing's going to happen. And this is just me kind of sitting on the outside. Like it was, it was always high stakes. And I don't ever remember anything like that. Maybe with the exception, going back to like when Republicans first took over back in 2010, 2011. But even then Jeff, the Senate and the House were on the same page. You know, back in those days, they'll march and like covered, they were aligned. And so that's how we were able to get as much done was we were all on the same page. And this year, I felt like the Senate and the House were not aligned ever on anything. So I, I'm sorry, my grandson's with me, did that. But anyway, as I talked to people, I said, one of the things that made it so odd was, I felt like the first few weeks in the house, we just talked about gambling. We got gambled owned. And then the next three weeks were really IVF. And then the next two weeks were Birmingham Southern. And then those workforce deals came out that really needed a lot of work on them. And then it just gambling was all over it. So it was contentious the whole time. I felt like, right? Yeah, I think you're spot on. Well, on the, on the, like, because you've seen this before, there's always kind of divisions within that building. And sometimes it's Senate. Well, sometimes it's Republican Democrat traditionally, but sometimes it's North versus South after BP. This house versus Senate thing. You think it's just kind of, this is just something we're just going through now and ultimately it would be resolved. I really hope so. I mean, you know, I'm not Senator or and I work really well with Senator or so that that's great. I heard you say you've got pro team read coming out and I work, you know, individually, I work well with almost all the senators. I just felt like this year we were never on the same page. Does that make sense? That that's the way it seemed. And then, I mean, even when it didn't seem like there was a back and forth, it's just like, it seemed like two separate worlds. You go upstairs to the Senate and then back down to the house. And it's like two very, very contrasting narratives, like two very different things. And that's, that unusual, but just it was like two different planets at times. No, I agree. That's how it felt to me as well. And things that we would hear were failing through and everybody was good. And then they would just stop in the Senate. And it was because of those two different, I don't know, commentary streams or two different. We just did have the same agenda. And in order to get a lot done through the legislature, you really need to have similar agendas. And addition, it wasn't just like Republicans fighting with Republicans, because even like the Democrats, the House members on the Democrats side were kind of put off with Senator Smith and, and you know, there was a side drama there. But it really was the two chambers, wasn't it? It really was. It was just, it was, it was an, every year is very unusual. Every year is different. But this one was, it was, it was just bad. I don't know what else to say. It was just bad. Well, hopefully better times ahead. Let's kick it off here. And I kind of understand, well, I'll just say I don't understand for the sake of this segment. But like, the, I understand the literacy act, and that came together, and it got put off a few times, and ultimately it went into effect. But the idea that third graders need to read at a third grade level to go on to the fourth grade, because at third grade, and before that you're, you're warning to read, and then from fourth grade forward, you're reading to learn. So you've got to have a certain mastery of a reading comprehension at a certain age to proceed and continue with the learning experience. So the literacy act came to be to kind of make sure that you have that in place. Well, I guess the question would be, and then I don't, I saw you on with Todd Stacey the other night kind of walking through this. So changes into testing, you know, that some are saying the standards are lower, but what kind of walk us through where we were and what the anticipation or the expectations were and where we are now. I'm glad to do that. And I can see from the out loud that it would be very confusing. And one of the things I said, we passed the literacy act in 2019. And from 2019, from the time we passed it until even this year, I have continued to say, we really have been, it's like we're building the plane while we're flying it. In other words, in a perfect world, you would get everything in place. You would have your professional development, all your teachers prepared, you would have your core curriculum so that all of our standards and our curriculum were high, you would know what your testing was, but we didn't do it that way. We decided it's too important. And so what we did, the literacy task force was working on what the high good curriculum looked like, what that core would look like, what testing would look like, but I mean, it went, they had to go through everything and our teachers were going through professional development while we were raising those standards the whole time. And I've read some of those things about lower standards. And our standards weren't lower. Our standards have been raised. One of the things that changed two years ago was that we added an extra dimension to the literacy test that the third graders had to take. And it made it a little bit harder, and so they changed that cut score. And my, everyone, I respect that was looking at it, was telling me it was really pretty much a level change because of the difference in the hardness of that test and the difference in the strength and the rigor of that test. And the day board had to score the cut score would be. And so I said I would support them, and I do. Now I support them with the caveat. I was told we would raise that level every year. They went through what they called two standard measures of deviation. And I hope that by this next year, we will only use one so that we will continue to raise that bar every year for our students. And I think that's a great thing. We are having more success with our students reading now than we've ever had. And that's what we want to do. And at the end of the day, that's the direction we want to go. Now the standards will evolve over time. I mean, do you anticipate that? Do you anticipate kind of figuring this out as we go along? I don't see the standards evolving over time. What I was referring to is when they pick a cut score, they use what they call so many percentages of deviation. In other words, they felt like with the cut score, if they moved it to 1% less, that they felt like 95% of those students that were being promoted were prepared. And that we would not be holding anybody back that was actually prepared to go to the fourth grade. That's how they were looking at it. And that's what they said. What I would like us to see us do is where that cut score is on that testing to continue to lift that just a little bit every year until we get all the way to that. Basically, our testing comes out in a quadrant. One, two, three, four, three, and four are definitely grade levels. Two, which is somewhere where our cut score is, is less than grade level, but is cut score is sufficient, sufficient to promote. And so, oddly, those students are good. I think that we'll continue to work with them. We put money in the budget to work with those that were held back in a different way, and then to work with those that were promoted, but still may be struggling with some areas of reading. So, you know, say you don't get the test score you need the first time around, there is a track to get you called up in time to continue on to the fourth grade, right? Right. There are actually four different things on that very first ACAP test that came back. And, you know, it had to improve, I think, three years ago, they said, like, 22 percent of the students would have been held back. Last year, 17 percent, and this one year went all the way to 9 percent or all that were on that level of being held back potentially. Well, the other four chances they get is, first of all, they can take the test again. Second, they can go to summer school, and most of the time those that went to reading camp by the end of that camp, they're prepared and they're ready to go on and move. I had my local superintendent said, he felt like almost all of ours would be prepared because that's how good that summer reading camp is. There's also a level of students that have an exception, like if they're English language learners or if they have special needs, they're an IEP or 504. And so there are multiple opportunities. And lastly, students have a portfolio where teachers can see, because sometimes you just test poorly, but they know you really do know how to read because you've proven it in other areas. So those are the four ways. Jeff, I'm getting all in the way, and I don't know if that's how they keep wanting to go. No, no, it's it's very informative and just there's a lot of interest in this. I want to move on to one thing, and I know I didn't tell you to ask you about this. So the school choice bill that's used, are you pretty much satisfied with where that is? I think they're working on it right now. You know, the Department of Revenue is setting up a lot of the promulgation of the rules, and this is new and different for some of the things that they've done. But I think we're moving in a good direction. I'm not hearing pushback from anybody on that. I'm not getting. And so I feel like we're preparing and we're getting ready. You know, it's a 2526 start. And so we've got this year to get that, you know, prepared for it. And I believe we're moving in a good direction. So I feel good. I got to notice last week that three new charter schools are coming online, and they look like they're going to be really good. I know our scholarships increase. So I think we still have lots of good options. And I look forward to the shoes that even adding to those. Finally, we're presented. And we have one of your colleagues on Jennifer Fiddler yesterday talking about this. I mean, the IVF fix and what needs to be done are where you're at. There's a process underway right now. Now, I know a lot of the details. There's probably not a whole lot to talk about there. But there is something in the works, correct? What I will say is I know I personally in front like I toured about three weeks ago and the IVF clinic. And it's really all different types of fertility clinic. It's what it is. And it was very interesting. And Jeff, it's someone who had never been familiar with that. I found it all very informative. I was really glad to go and do that. We're also researching any laws or things that have come from other states that other states are doing. I know I've talked to some that believe we need to pass something else. And then I've talked to Senator Nelson who was the sponsor in the Senate. And he doesn't believe we need to do anything else. So I think there's just a lot of discussion around it right now. But I don't think anything said in stone or that we have a clear direction of what we want to do as we move forward. But we are working on it. We're still talking about it. We're still learning more about the process and what regulations and what parameters are already out there. So I mean, because the by understanding was what you did this last session was kind of a band aid and something else would have to come back. I mean, that hasn't been determined yet then. That was my interpretation when we started it, Jeff. And that's where I think we're going to go. I do think I've got several people that believe we're going to have to do something else. But but there's not a direction for that something else yet. Well, representative right now, I will say this. The clinic got toured and the others all but unfortunately the one that was in Mobile. They are still opening. Families are still able to have, you know, work on growing their families, especially those that have not been able to. And I think as a state that feels very much in favor of pro life and pro family, I think that we're still because of the things we were able to do that this session, those families are still able to work through closer to home those issues. Representative, we got to leave it there. We're out of time, but I really do appreciate you coming on and hopefully we catch up again soon. I will look forward to it. Thank you, Jeff. Have a great rest of the day. You do the same. That was state representative Terry College there. We got to get a break in here. We'll be right back. This is the Chup for show on F and Doc 106 5.