State Seeks Dismissal Of Suit Against Birmingham Takeover
State schools chief Tommy Bice (center right), Birmingham Mayor William Bell (lower left) and other area leaders look on with concern at a contentious April 2012 board meeting that helped trigger state intervention.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Lawyers representing the Alabama State Department of Education
late yesterday filed a brief asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit against the
state’s 2012 intervention in Birmingham City Schools.
The lawsuit alleges ALSDE disenfranchised black voters who elected
Birmingham school board members, whose authority was overruled when state
officials overturned their decisions, including the board’s initial refusal to adopt a controversial cost-cutting plan last
spring. That plan, eventually adopted, was
meant to help the school system build up a legally required reserve of one month’s
operating expenses. Birmingham and state officials predict the district will have that $17-million reserve in place before the
end of fiscal 2014.
Five Birmingham residents — including two former Birmingham school board
members and an Alabama Education Association representative — brought the suit and maintain the state intervention violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the
due process clause of the 14th Amendment, and the equal protection clause of the
14th Amendment.
But according to last night’s motion, filed electronically at 6:25 p.m., “[the suit
alleges] State School Superintendent Bice violated the Voting Rights Act and the
14th Amendment when he intervened to compel the Birmingham Board of
Education to comply with state school finance laws. If that sentence sounds peculiar,
it should: Plaintiffs claim a violation of [Section 2] of the VRA, but they do not take
issue with the number of members making up the board, the districts from which
board members were elected, how voters registered to vote, who was allowed to
vote, or how their votes were counted…
“Plaintiffs also claim that the intervention violated their 14th Amendment rights of
due process and equal protection. [Those claims should be dismissed] because there
is no constitutionally protected right to vote for members of the school board, and
the intervention was rationally related to a legitimate state purpose.”
ALSDE’s lawyers also maintain that local boards of education — unlike municipal
boards — are, legally speaking, extensions of the state education department.
The suit, filed in February with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Southern Division, names defendants Tommy Bice in his capacity as superintendent of the
state education department; Ed Richardson — the sometimes controversial leader of
the state intervention team, and acting chief financial officer of Birmingham City
Schools; and the Alabama State Board of Education. Judge David Proctor could decide on the motion to dismiss as early as March.
How Alabama Power kept bills up and opposition out to become one of the most powerful utilities in the country
In one of the poorest states in America, the local utility earns massive profits producing dirty energy with almost no pushback from state regulators.
No more Elmo? APT could cut ties with PBS
The board that oversees Alabama Public Television is considering disaffiliating from PBS, ending a 55-year relationship.
Nonprofit erases millions in medical debt across Gulf South, says it’s ‘Band-Aid’ for real issue
Undue Medical Debt has paid off more than $299 million in medical debts in Alabama. Now, the nonprofit warns that the issue could soon get worse.
Roy Wood Jr. on his father, his son and his new book
Actor, comedian and writer Roy Wood Jr. is out with a new book -- "The Man of Many Fathers: Life Lessons Disguised as a Memoir." He writes about his experience growing up in Birmingham, losing his dad as a teenager and all the lessons he learned from various father figures throughout his career.
Auburn fires coach Hugh Freeze following 12th loss in his last 15 SEC games
The 56-year-old Freeze failed to fix Auburn’s offensive issues in three years on the Plains, scoring 24 or fewer points in 17 of his 22 league games. He also ended up on the wrong end of too many close matchups, including twice this season thanks partly to questionable calls.
In a ‘disheartening’ era, the nation’s former top mining regulator speaks out
Joe Pizarchik, who led the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement from 2009 to 2017, says Alabama’s move in the wake of a fatal 2024 home explosion increases risks to residents living atop “gassy” coal mines.
