Education Archives - Page 13 of 43 - BirminghamWatch
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Birmingham Promise Gets $8 Million Boost From Private Companies

The Birmingham Promise educational initiative has received $8 million in donations from local corporations, Mayor Randall Woodfin announced Tuesday. That number includes $5 million from Birmingham-based investment firm Vulcan Value Partners — the program’s largest private donation to date. It also includes $1 million each from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama and Protective Life, as well as from Alabama Power, which donated for the second consecutive year. Birmingham Promise offers juniors and seniors in city schools paid internships, dual enrollment opportunities and scholarships to two- or four-year public colleges. Read more.

by Sam Prickett
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

Supreme Court Ruling on Online Sales Tax Could Benefit Schools Statewide

A recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling will mean millions of dollars in online sales tax revenue for Morgan County schools and is a win for schools statewide, supporters say. Some expect more local legislation similar to the north Alabama county’s in the next legislative session. The court earlier this month upheld the constitutionality of a 2019 local law, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, that directed the bulk of revenue from online sales tax, referred to as SSUT, received by the county commission to the county’s public schools. Orr said the local bill mirrored that of the county’s existing bricks-and-mortar sales tax distribution — revenue that has dipped as more people shop online. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Literacy Act Delay Bill Running Out of Time

A bill to delay next year’s requirement to hold back third grade students who aren’t proficient in reading is running out of time in the Legislature. The Senate-passed measure was discussed for more than an hour in a public hearing Wednesday in the House Education Policy Committee. Committee Chairwoman Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, opted not to vote on the bill and said the committee may take it up Tuesday. If approved there, it would need a House vote during the two remaining legislative days of this session. Sponsor Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, said the pandemic has greatly altered education delivery in the state to the disadvantage of students. He argued the holdback requirement, part of the 2019 Literacy Act, should be delayed two years. Otherwise, too many students will be held back. Read more. More from the Legislature this week: Bill to Limit State Emergency Declarations Moving in the House Bill Requiring Accommodations for Pregnant Workers, Other Bills Won't Get Vote Bill Puts Into Law Unemployment Benefit Fraud Protections Bill Would Ban All Chemical Abortions in Alabama Legislature Nearing Passage of State Budgets as Session Nears End

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Bill Would Remove Red Tape for Local School Projects, but Contractors Aren’t on Board

MONTGOMERY— A bill in the Alabama Senate regarding the construction of public buildings has some concerned about what it could mean to the safety of school buildings, while proponents see the legislation as a way to help education entities save money. Bill sponsor Rep. Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said House Bill 220 would help decrease building costs for public schools by reducing bureaucratic red tape, enabling money to be better used. He gave an example of a $2.4 million project being reduced to $1.7 million. “I’ve heard from K-12 and (Alabama Community College System) about the construction costs increasing due to red tape,” Ledbetter, the House majority leader, said. “This bill would help them save money, money that can be better spent elsewhere.” Read more.

by Will Whatley, Alabama Daily News

Proposal Changing Charter School Funding Has Potential Bipartisan Support

MONTGOMERY — As advocates for public charter schools push for more equal funding in the Alabama Legislature this year, an unlikely ally has emerged signaling potential bi-partisan support for the proposal. Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D- Birmingham, a prominent voice in the state’s minority party, recently filed Senate Bill 387, similar to House Bill 487, sponsored by Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, earlier this session. These bills would make changes to the Alabama School Choice and Student Opportunity Act and allow for some local tax dollars to follow students to charter schools similar to how they would to any other school. Currently, both state and federal dollars follow students who leave traditional schools and enroll in charter schools, but local dollars do not. “Many of these people are constituents and so they asked for some help in those areas, and that’s what the objective was, just to help them to provide them with some funds so that they could ease the burden on the students,” Smitherman told Alabama Daily News. Alabama Democrats have historically been against expanding charter schools in the state and fought against the broad 2015 school choice legislation, arguing it would undermine traditional schools. Read more.

by Will Whatley and Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Teacher Retirement Bill Advances

MONTGOMERY — A “slimmed down” teacher retirement modification bill cleared a Senate committee Wednesday. House Bill 93 as amended would let newer teachers in the state rollover each year their sick leave and get paid for unused days when they retire. Current Tier II teachers lose unused days each year. Read more.

by Caroline Beck and Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Bill Would Create Scholarships for Rural Teachers

MONTGOMERY — Legislation in the Alabama Senate would give scholarships to students seeking to be STEM or special education teachers in Alabama if they agree to teach in rural areas. Read more. More from the Legislature this week: Teacher Retirement Bill Advances ADOC Reporting, Sexual Assault Victim Bills Advance, Grand Jury Bill Delayed Bill Would Change State’s Grand Jury Secrecy Laws, Free Witnesses to Talk About Testimony Governor Signs Alcohol Delivery Bill Read complete legislative coverage.

by Caroline Beck and Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Senate Approves Delay of Literacy Act Student Holdback Requirement

MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Senate on Tuesday voted to delay by two years the requirement that third graders who don’t read at set levels be held back in school, as described in the Alabama Literacy Act, despite opposition from some chamber leaders. Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, sponsored Senate Bill 94. It passed by a vote of 23-9. The 2019 law currently requires that, starting at the end of the 2021-2022 school year, third grade students demonstrate sufficient reading skills before being promoted to fourth grade. Smitherman and others argued that COVID-19-caused learning loss would lead to more students being held back next year if lawmakers didn’t act. Read more. More from the Legislature this week: Bill Would Change State’s Grand Jury Secrecy Laws, Free Witnesses to Talk About Testimony Governor Signs Alcohol Delivery Bill Read complete legislative coverage.

by Mary Sell and Todd Stacy, Alabama Daily News
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