Birmingham Considering Spanish-English Charter School
Charter Schools are scheduled to open in Alabama by the start of the next school year. In Birmingham, at least one of these non-traditional schools funded with public money may take on a new mission: Spanish immersion through an approach often called “dual-language,” where students don’t just learn Spanish, but other subjects in Spanish. It would be the first charter of its kind in the state.
The Birmingham City Schools district has to start requesting proposals for next school year by November 1. School leaders at a Tuesday meeting discussed converting at least one existing school to a dual language charter school.
“We know, when we look at other countries, a number of them well prepare their students, even at the grammar school level and beyond, to be able to speak a second language,” says Superintendent Kelley Castlin-Gacutan.
The Birmingham school board is a state-approved charter school authorizer. That means the district can approve or deny new, or “start-up,” charter schools. The school system can also convert one of its existing schools into a charter school.
On Tuesday, board members said they still have questions about the impact of charter schools. Some also discussed the need for more community input. The board is planning another meeting on charter schools next week.
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.
