Alabama’s Superintendent of Education Ed Richardson threatened Friday to close Alabama’s 1,400 public schools on Oct. 1 if voters reject Gov. Bob Riley’s record-high tax plan and legislators fail to adopt an education budget, reports today’s Birmingham News. Richardson met with the state’s 128 public school superintendents, who were buzzing after he told them of his intent. “I tell you, if we have to close schools Oct. 1 and shut down football in the middle of the season, well, it’s just bone-chilling to even think about,” said Shelby County Superintendent Evan Major.
Left unaddressed, of course, is the question of whether closing the public schools would have a positive or negative effect on students’ education.
