• Former Attorney General Troy King is running for Congress.
• King has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run in Alabama's 2nd Congressional District, where incumbent U.S. Rep. Martha Roby recently announced she won't seek reelection to a sixth term.
• The statement of candidacy declares King's intent to run and establishes a campaign committee for him to raise money.
• King last ran for Attorney General in 2018, losing a heated GOP runoff to Steve Marshall.
• The news was first reported by ADN's Mary Sell, who confirmed it with King's political consultant, Chris Brown.
• Read her full story HERE.

• A new report shows that Alabama ranks 44^th in the nation when it comes to educational opportunities and performance. The state received an overall score of 69.9 out of 100 points, a C-minus.
• The report offers a comprehensive review of the nation’s K-12 system based on three factors: how much states spend on schools and how fairly that money is distributed; how well the state assures chances for success over a student’s career; and outcomes such as test scores and graduation rates.
• When it comes to the three factors the report grades the state on, Alabama is ranked 36^th on school finance, 45^th in the chance-for-success category and 43^rd on K-12 achievement.
• But State Superintendent Eric Mackey told ADN that he doesn’t want the state to get sidetracked with national rankings, and is dedicated to fixing the problems the state has now.
• “We do not focus on reacting to individual rankings… rather maintaining a consistent, steadfast commitment to providing the best educational opportunities for all Alabama students," Mackey said.
• I also spoke with House Education Policy Chair, Rep. Terri Collins on what she is looking at for future education policy legislation, as well as Gov. Ivey for her thoughts on the latest ranking.
• You can read my full write up on the report HERE.

• State hemp growers have produced their first crop of the plant, and so far, inspectors say they are in line with state law.
• Alabama Agricultural Commissioner Rick Pate said that so far, samples from 45 licensed growers have all tested below the 0.3 percent THC level, which is the level required by state law.
• The hemp is used for CBD oil, or cannabidiol, which is used for medicinal purposes and is now widely legal.
• The news comes as a relief for some growers, who had expressed concern that their entire hemp crop could be destroyed if some of their plants tested above the legal limit.
• Across the state, dozens of licensed farmers this spring planted Alabama’s first legal hemp crop since 1937.
• Now the crops will be sent to a processor to be turned into CBD oil.
• Read the full report HERE.

• A group of Tuscaloosa high schoolers now will have the chance to take a history class that highlights the city’s black history, making it the first African American history class of its kind in Alabama.
• Central High Schoolers will get to examine history from when African slaves were brought to America through the administration of Barack Obama.
• The course was inspired by the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery and the work they’ve done in researching the nation’s history with racial inequality and racial violence.  
• "We are trusting them and challenging them to be historians on their own and then take that knowledge and turn it outside by giving it a public-facing dimension so that it is not just 18 students and two instructors," John Giggie, a University of AlabamaA professor who is one of the instructors for the course said.
• "It's a much larger experiment on how we can teach about history in a way that is fuller, rounder, richer and truer."
• You can read more about the class from Jonece Starr Dunigan at AL.com.