Education

Woodfin Defends Proposed Cut to Education Budget

Mayor Randall Woodfin defended his plan for Birmingham’s education budget at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, arguing that shifting millions of dollars from city schools to his proposed Birmingham Promise Initiative would allow the city to invest directly in students. Woodfin’s proposed FY 2020 operating budget would cut the city’s funding for Birmingham City Schools from $3.2 million to $1 million. It would place that $2 million into a fund for the Birmingham Promise Education Initiative, a public-private partnership that would provide juniors and seniors in Birmingham city schools with paid apprenticeships as well as dual enrollment opportunities with Lawson State and Jefferson State community colleges. The program also would offer scholarships for city school graduates to attend public colleges and universities in Alabama. Woodfin’s proposed cut to the schools’ budget has gotten mixed reviews. The city board of education in a letter to the mayor and council expressed support for the program but asked that the $2 million cut be reconsidered in the future. Some council members today expressed support for the program and said it would be a benefit to Birmingham’s students; others were wary and said they needed details about the plan before being asked to vote on it. Read more.

Avondale Elementary Climate Frustrates Parents and Teachers

The Birmingham Board of Education has some hiring to do, particularly at one elementary school. Thirty percent of the educators at Avondale Elementary from last year will not be returning. Teachers and parents say the environment at the school was chaotic last year, and they worry about safety and communication. It’s also leading some parents to consider other education options for their children. Morgan Richardson was president of the Avondale PTA, but this year, she says her children will attend private school. She says she is an advocate for public education, but she has concerns about Avondale. Read more.

Birmingham Celebrates Historic A.G. Gaston Motel Anniversary

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. often planned strategy for the civil rights movement in room 30 at the A.G. Gaston Motel. For others, it was a place for wedding receptions and fancy dances. As restoration of the famed but deteriorating structure begins, Birmingham celebrated the motel’s anniversary and its founder on Monday. Read more. WBHM

The 15-Year Fight to Integrate Public Schools

WBHM In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education struck down racial segregation in schools. While the court ordered public schools to desegregate “with all deliberate speed,” the vague language allowed Southern officials to delay and resist school integration for years. It wasn’t until 1969 that the court forced school integration in a case called Alexander v. Holmes. Read more.

Highlights From The Big Q: Youth and Race

In this episode of The Big Q, WBHM discussed the intersection of youth and race. How do young people look at race? How do they handle differences? And how do educators handle acts of racism in the classroom? Read more.

A Conversation With the Superintendent: Birmingham Schools’ Herring Talks About Facing Competition for Students, Being Accountable and Building Relationships

Birmingham City Schools have a lot of competition for students, as reflected in enrollment decline and in the private, parochial, charter and other alternative schools that serve the Birmingham community. Students in the city have many options, depending on religious affiliation, or ability to pay, or talent, or simply availability and choice. That competition does not go unnoticed and it does have an impact, Dr. Lisa Herring, superintendent of the Birmingham City Schools, said in a recent interview. But she did not grant competition from alternative schools an outsized share of responsibility for enrollment declines in the city schools. She said talking about competition for Birmingham students also means considering other factors important to student success. “We always want to strive to be the very best,” she said. “We know that there’s accountability in that. And I believe that’s important, not just for our students but for our teachers, principals, parents and all. But we just want what’s best for our children. … So, if we talk about competition, we have to talk about care. If we say competition, we have to talk about competency.” Having looked at BCS enrollment over the past 10 years, she said, “There has been slight decline, not extreme, but certainly slight in that there’s some decline each year with one exception … . There was one year when we had an increase.” The increase was in the 2015-2016 school year, when BCS had 24,010 students in K-12, according to the Alabama State Department of Education website, up from 23,963 the year before. Otherwise Birmingham schools have had gradual declines most of the past decade, with the end result of a nearly 5,000 student decrease. In 2008-2009, the school system had 27,218 enrolled in K-12, according to the state department information. In the 2018-2019 school year, it had 22,246. The ALSDE website includes enrollment back to 1995-1996, when BCS had 39,545 students in K-12. Pre-K numbers dropped over the decade, from 2,109 in 2008-2009 to 1,938 in 2018-2019. Pre-K enrollment peaked in 2013-2014 with 2,331 students. Going back to ‘95-‘96, there were 3,192 students in pre-K. Declining enrollment, Herring said, is not all about students leaving for alternatives. “That’s tied to not just having school opportunities and school choice, but also a highly transient community. But to answer your question specifically, it makes us want to stay focused on making our schools a first choice based on offerings, and it’s based on performance.” Read more.

Community Development Group Donates $50K to Washington K-8

Navigate Affordable Housing Partners, a housing and community development nonprofit organization, has donated $50,000 to Washington K-8 School as part of its work in the North Titusville neighborhood. “Any development community effort is only successful it you have schools. Strong schools make for strong communities and strong communities have healthy families,” Lisa McCarroll, CEO of the group, said while presenting the donation during a Birmingham Board of Education board meeting June 11. Read more.

Culverhouse Emails Tell a Different Story on University of Alabama Feud

A series of emails released by the University of Alabama System show the dispute that led to a parting of ways with mega-donor Hugh Culverhouse preceded the comments he made about abortion.

Shooting for the A — Birmingham Schools principal succeeded at one school. Now he’s aiming to redirect another that is facing significant challenges.

As 2020 rolls in, BirminghamWatch looks back at its biggest stories of 2019, highlighting a different one each day. When Dr. Terrell Brown took over as principal at Birmingham City’s Minor Elementary School, the school had a failing “F” grade. By the time he left three years later, Minor had improved to a “C.” Over at W.E. Putnam Middle School, where Brown is now, the goal is to do a repeat. Brown is taking his best practices from Minor and his time at Midfield City Schools and is applying them to his efforts to turn Putnam around from its “F” report card grade and five-time appearance on the AAA failing schools list. Read more. Read the rest of BirminghamWatch’s special report on Birmingham schools:

Making the Grade? How Birmingham City Schools Are Doing Depends on Which Measure You Choose.

An Introduction to Birmingham Schools, From A to F

The Numbers

The History of the Birmingham City Schools

Many Questions About Birmingham City Schools Remain After Three Months of Trying to Understand the State of Education

Questions submitted to the Birmingham City Schools

The History of the Birmingham City Schools

Birmingham Schools’ Superintendent Talks About Facing Competition for Students, Being Accountable and Building Relationships.

Alabama Site for Detained Immigrants Has History of Abuse Charges, Efforts to Close It

First Class in More Than Name Only: Why Alabama’s Preschool Program Is Best in the Country on National Standards

From Buses to Libraries, 2020 Education Has More for K-12 Schools

MONTGOMERY — An additional $318 million for K-12 schools is in Alabama’s 2020 education budget, and lawmakers and education leaders say that money will make tangible differences in local schools. Gov. Kay Ivey signed the record-setting education budget into law Thursday. “This budget represents significantly more resources for education,” Senate education budget committee chairman Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, said. Here’s what some of the new money will mean to K-12 schools. There’s nearly $190 million more for the K-12 Foundation Program that supports schools’ basic functions. The 2020 total is $3.9 billion. There’s also an additional $27.8 million for transportation. Read more.