Digital Media Center
Bryant-Denny Stadium, Gate 61
920 Paul Bryant Drive
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0370
(800) 654-4262

© 2025 Alabama Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
StoryCorps is in Selma through February 7. Help preserve your stories and community history. Learn more here: StoryCorps Selma.

"Frustration" led to Alabama Teacher of the Year Resignation

Alabama's reigning "teacher of the year" fired off a resignation letter out of exasperation with the "wall of bureaucracy." State and local education officials listed Ann Marie Corgill as "unqualified" to teach the fifth grade. She started off teaching second grade this semester, before being moved to fifth grade class. Corgill was Alabama's 2015 teacher of the year and a finalist for national teacher of the year for the 2014-2015 school year. She was told she lacked credentials for her new job teaching fifth-graders at a low-income, federally funded school in Birmingham. Corgill is a nationally certified teacher. But Alabama Superintendent Tommy Bice says her state certification doesn't include fifth grade.

Pat Duggins is news director for Alabama Public Radio.
News from Alabama Public Radio is a public service in association with the University of Alabama. We depend on your help to keep our programming on the air and online. Please consider supporting the news you rely on with a donation today. Every contribution, no matter the size, propels our vital coverage. Thank you.