Category: Education
Alabama First Grade Readiness Gets Support From Governor’s Education Commission
The future of a bill that would effectively mandate kindergarten in Alabama still faces an uphill battle, even as members of a state education commission said that they support the bill. Read more.
Birmingham City Council President Dissents From Vote Pledging Financial Support for Birmingham-Southern College
It’s not about Birmingham-Southern College; it’s about the residents of Birmingham.
That’s what Birmingham City Council President Wardine Alexander said Tuesday in her dissent from passage of a resolution pledging city dollars to support BSC, a private college, if the institution is able to obtain additional funding from the state. Read more.
2023 Kids Count Highlights Hurdles to Child Well-Being in Alabama
Alabama ranks 45th in the country overall for child well-being, according to the 2023 Kids Count Data Book issued this week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. That’s one slot higher than last year. But the “improvement” says less about progress in Alabama than it does about losses in other states, according to the report. Read more.
Any school can get you a diploma. This school might get you a house.
Fewer young people want to work in trade jobs than ever before, and that’s left a hole in the job market. One charter school in Birmingham is giving some young people skills needed to address that problem. Read more.
Ivey Forces Early Childhood Education Secretary to Resign Over Teacher Training Book
Gov. Kay Ivey Friday forced Secretary of Early Childhood Education Barbara Cooper to resign over a book designed to train teachers to be aware of the different backgrounds and challenges of their students.
In a Friday afternoon news release, Gina Maiola, communications director for the governor’s office, said Ivey had accepted Cooper’s resignation after learning of a pre-K educator resource book that included “woke concepts.”
The book is the National Association for the Education of Young Children Developmentally Appropriate Practice Book, 4th Edition. It focuses on teaching children up to age of 8. Read more.
Alabama State Superintendent: Failing Label Meant to ‘Humiliate’ Schools
Eric Mackey says label causes “frustration and problems in high poverty communities.”
BSC Board Votes to Keep the College Open
The board of trustees of Birmingham-Southern College voted unanimously Wednesday evening to keep the college open. Late last year, college officials reported that the private liberal arts college could close as early as this spring due to old accounting errors, a drained endowment and years of financial stress. The college has asked government officials for bridge funding, with limited success. Its $200 million fundraising campaign so far has raised nearly $46 million from private donors. Read more.
JVTF Gets $805K From City to Teach Students About Farming and Food
The Birmingham City Council has allocated $805,000 toward increasing the Jones Valley Teaching Farm’s presence in Birmingham City Schools.
The money will go toward the nonprofit’s wide-reaching Good School Food educational program, which is intended to foster skills in and appreciation for farming and the culinary arts in BCS students. The new funding will expand the JVTF’s capacity to host field trips and weeklong camps and will expand JVTF’s internship and apprenticeship programs. Read more.
An Inside Look at an AP African American Studies Class
Birmingham Council Delays BSC Funding Decision Until at Least Mid-April
The Birmingham City Council needs more questions answered before it will officially lend its support to the financially struggling Birmingham-Southern College.
A “resolution of intent” on the agenda for Tuesday’s council meeting would have seen the city promise to provide financial support to BSC — if the college could also secure binding funding commitments from the state of Alabama and the Jefferson County Commission.
But some councilors were reluctant to make that commitment without further discussions with college administrators first.
BSC President Daniel Coleman has said the board of trustees must decide the college’s future by the end of March to give students time to decide where to transfer and help faculty and staff make plans for their future. Read more.
