State Taking Over Birmingham Schools
State Assuming Full Control of Birmingham Schools
ALSDE Officials To Hold A Press Conference Today
By Dan Carsen, June 26, 2012
It appears a deadline means a deadline to the Alabama State Department of Education.
After the Birmingham school board did not adopt a $12-million state-mandated cost-cutting plan
last night, the state education department is taking control of the Birmingham City School System today,
as spelled out in a recent state board resolution.
“I don’t think any of us want someone to come in here, and take care of my business. I don’t want
people telling me what to do, and I’m sure it’s the same in Birmingham,” said Ed Richardson, who’s
leading the team investigating Birmingham City Schools since April. “But [a takeover] was clearly on the
table. They chose to vote [the plan] down.”
The plan, which would include almost 200 personnel cuts, was meant to bring the system in line with a
state law requiring districts to keep a month’s operating expenses in reserve. Birmingham currently has
only about four days’ worth, and that’s before factoring in a coming decrease in state funding due
to dropping enrollment.
Brian Giattina, W. J. Maye, Phyllis Wyne, and surprisingly, Alana Edwards voted for the plan. Edward
Maddox, Tyrone Belcher, Virginia Volker and Emanuel Ford voted against the plan, and April Williams
abstained, effectively killing it with a tie.
The vote came after a long meeting that was heated and erratic even by Birmingham School Board
standards, featuring everything from accusations of racism to name-calling to a citizen using a loud dog
squeeze toy to accentuate his points to assurances of divine retribution,
and finally, an eight-year-old coming up to the podium and asking “Why do we always get rid of our
good teachers?”
The Alabama Education Association and the local chapter of the American Federation of Teachers had large presences in the overcrowded auditorium. They cheered when the plan was not adopted. After that, the board voted to direct its attorneys to “protect the Soon after, Richardson said the threat of a legal battle will have little effect: “Financial intervention has occurred 12 or 15 times. The process has clearly been established. This is not At one point during the meeting, Belcher said something he’s said before: “I’ve served in two wars, and Craig Pouncey, deputy state superintendent, and Richardson have scheduled a press conference for 10
interests of the board.”
something new.”
I’ve never seen anything like this.”
a.m. today, Wednesday, June 27, at the Birmingham City Schools Administration Building at 2015 Park
Place.
Birmingham is 3rd worst in the Southeast for ozone pollution, new report says
The American Lung Association's "State of the Air" report shows some metro areas in the Gulf States continue to have poor air quality.
Why haven’t Kansas and Alabama — among other holdouts — expanded access to Medicaid?
Only 10 states have not joined the federal program that expands Medicaid to people who are still in the "coverage gap" for health care
Once praised, settlement to help sickened BP oil spill workers leaves most with nearly nothing
Thousands of ordinary people who helped clean up after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico say they got sick. A court settlement was supposed to help compensate them, but it hasn’t turned out as expected.
Q&A: How harm reduction can help mitigate the opioid crisis
Maia Szalavitz discusses harm reduction's effectiveness against drug addiction, how punitive policies can hurt people who need pain medication and more.
The Gulf States Newsroom is hiring a Community Engagement Producer
The Gulf States Newsroom is seeking a curious, creative and collaborative professional to work with our regional team to build up engaged journalism efforts.
Gambling bills face uncertain future in the Alabama legislature
This year looked to be different for lottery and gambling legislation, which has fallen short for years in the Alabama legislature. But this week, with only a handful of meeting days left, competing House and Senate proposals were sent to a conference committee to work out differences.
