Failing schools list has four Marengo institutions

The Alabama State Department of Education unveiled its list of 78 “failing” schools Tuesday morning. The much-anticipated list is part of the Alabama Accountability Act and presents a much less dire analysis of Alabama public education than did a list of some 200 schools circulated by Senate Republicans earlier this year.

In Marengo County, four schools made the list: John Essex School, Marengo High School, Linden’s George P. Austin Junior High School and Linden Elementary School.

The Senate Republicans’ draft of the list initially contained every school in Marengo County outside of the Demopolis City Schools system.

Other nearby schools on the official list released Tuesday include Greensboro High School, Greene County High School and feeder institution Carver Middle School as well as Sumter County junior highs Kinterbish, North Sumter and York West End.

Parents with students zoned for the 78 schools on the list will be eligible for a $3,500 tax credit per student should they choose to move their children to a non-failing public school or a private school.