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The Alabama state superintendent said Thursday afternoon that a diploma pathway focused on career readiness should not be used to remove lower achieving students from another diploma pathway.

Speaking to members of the Alabama State Board of Education during a work session, Eric Mackey told board members that students should not be forced to work toward a career-pathway focused diploma known as Diploma B just because they have lower ACT scores than others.

鈥淭here will be no 鈥業f your ACT score is 22 you鈥檙e on Option A, and if it鈥檚 21 you鈥檙e on Option B,鈥欌�� Mackey said. 鈥淎nd if anybody tries to do that, the furor of the state superintendent will come down on them, because that is not the purpose.鈥�

The remarks came in a discussion over the diploma options of 鈥淎鈥� and 鈥淏,鈥� with 鈥淏鈥� meeting a career-focused option required by the Legislature.

sponsored by Sen. Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva, the chair of the Senate Education Policy Committee, was part of a package of bills focused on workforce development in the 2024 regular legislative session. The legislation requires the board to create a diploma under the law鈥檚 goal of facilitating 鈥渢he development of a career pathways diploma at the K-12 level that would enhance career and technical education opportunities for high school students who plan to enter the workforce immediately after graduation.鈥�

Mackey said that diplomas issued by the schools will not note whether they are the 鈥淎鈥� or 鈥淏鈥� option. Both diplomas require 24 credits.

But the superintendent said he was worried about returning to an old educational model where people sent students to vocational schools just to get them out of the building.

鈥淚鈥檓 telling you, if anybody tries to go back to that, there will be fire raining down on them because that is not what this is about,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is about giving students opportunities.鈥�

Chesteen said in a Thursday afternoon phone call that he agreed with Mackey after the Reflector summarized what was said at the work session.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 one thing to pass a piece of legislation. I think the most important piece to that is the implementation. How is it going to affect the students? And that鈥檚 what I want to monitor very carefully,鈥� he said.

Chesteen said 鈥渨e can鈥檛 use it for an easy pathway out for these kids that don鈥檛 score well,鈥� and they need to have a career pathway after they graduate.

Diploma 鈥淎鈥� requires four credits each in English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. Diploma 鈥淏鈥� requires four credits in English Language Arts and Social Studies, but two credits in Mathematics and Science. Option 鈥淏鈥� also requires three credits in Career and Technical Education to complete a whole sequence.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have kids that score a 32 on the ACT, that want to be Option B because they like working with their hands, and they want to go into robotics or such thing, and we鈥檙e going to have kids with with a 20 ACT, that are strivers, they want to do the Option A,鈥� Mackey said.

The Board intends to announce the intent to adopt the changes in the October meeting.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: [email protected]. Follow Alabama Reflector on and .

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