Mobile, AL – A recent report strongly criticizes Alabama's two-year college oversight structure. But most members of the state school board and two-year Chancellor Bradley Byrne said they don't see a need to change the system.
The school board currently controls both the K-12 system and the two-year college system, which has been plagued by scandals.
The report was compiled mostly by Maryland-based consultant James Fisher. It focused on Mobile's Bishop State Community College, which has been the subject of theft investigations and remains on probation with its accrediting agency.
Going beyond a review of the Mobile school alone, the report says the two-year system's governing structures seem inconsistent with successful models elsewhere in the country.
Several national education experts also told the Press-Register newspaper that it is better to have separate boards for the two systems
J. Noah Brown is president of the Washington, D.C.-based Association of Community College Trustees. He said having one board for both systems could allow for some collaboration, but the structure gives the board a heavy workload.
Several board members said last week they were opposed to a two-board system.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)