Tag: Alabama Reflector
Glock Switch Ban Aims to Help Birmingham Address Violent Crime
Effects of gun violence still ripple through Five Points South.
How Birmingham City School Students Recovered Pandemic Learning Loss
Birmingham City Schools Superintendent Mark Sullivan expected to see reading scores decline after the pandemic. When he saw the first results in coming out of the pandemic, he was relieved to see student reading did not fall as much as he expected.
“But the math scores plummeted,” he said.
The next steps Birmingham officials took may have helped turn them around. Read more.
The Alabama Legislature is returning. Here’s what to expect.
The Alabama Legislature will kick off the 2024 session on Tuesday with work on the state’s two budgets and a host of other issues awaiting them.
Lawmakers this year are expected to take up legislation that would create a voucher-like program for schools in the state and possible legislation creating mandatory kindergarten or something very close to it. Legislators may also consider bills on gambling; ethics and trafficking and kidnapping. Read more.
The Long Decline: Population Declines Hit Rural Counties
Population is declining in Alabama’s rural counties, particularly in the Black Belt, even as urban and suburban counties are growing.
As the population has dropped off, good-paying jobs have left. The population has gotten older and sicker, but hospitals have closed and doctors have left the area. With fewer students, schools have become fewer and farther between.
The Alabama Reflector investigated these issues and produced a three-part series:
The Long Decline: How Depopulation Hurts Alabama’s Rural Communities
The Long Decline: In Depopulating Counties, What Happens to Schools?
The Long Decline: Health Care Access Grows Difficult in Shrinking Rural Communities
The Long Decline: Health Care Access Grows Difficult in Shrinking Rural Communities
Depopulation often means fewer health care providers, and more difficulties getting to them. Read more.
The Long Decline: In Depopulating Counties, What Happens to Schools?
As people leave rural Alabama, so do students. That has an effect on finances for those left behind. Read more.
The Long Decline: How Depopulation Hurts Alabama’s Rural Communities
The Black Belt has lost residents for decades. Those who stay are often poorer — and older. Read more.
Bryan Brinyark Wins House District 16 Special Election
Republican lawyer Bryan Brinyark will head to Montgomery to represent House District 16, which includes Fayette County, parts of Tuscaloosa and western areas of Jefferson counties. Read more.
Republican Brinyark, Democrat Underwood Vie for State House Seat
Voters in House District 16 go to the polls Tuesday to elect a new representative to the state House.
Republican nominee Bryan Brinyark will face Democratic nominee John Underwood in the election for the district, which extends from Fayette County to north Tuscaloosa and western Jefferson counties. Read more.
