Birmingham City Schools Free From State Control
Birmingham, Alabama’s school system is now free of state control. The state had taken over after financial mismanagement, corruption, and fighting among local board members so intense it sometimes got physical. Voters have since elected a very different school board. And now, Birmingham’s schools are independent again.
Alabama’s school board voted unanimously Thursday to release Birmingham’s 24,000 student system from state control. In 2012, after some local board members publicly begged for help, the state stepped in, citing among other things the system’s illegally low four-day cash reserve. Other board members fought the takeover in the public eye and in court but lost. Since then, staff have been cut, school zones realigned, and the system has well more than the required one-month operating reserves.
Alabama State Superintendent Tommy Bice calls it a “success story” and the “most aggressive intervention” his department has ever done.
Suspect in attack at Michigan synagogue is dead, officials say
Security officers at Temple Israel had "engaged the threat" that apparently started with a vehicle ramming into the building, according to Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.
This tale of a Chicago school book ban was inspired by true events
Librarian Jarrett Dapier's graphic novel tells a fictionalized account of real-life events in 2013 that restricted access to Marjane Satrapi's memoir Persepolis in Chicago Public Schools.
Senate passes bipartisan housing bill targeting large investors and easing regulations
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act would ban large investors from buying up single-family homes.
Chilean Smiljan Radić Clarke wins architecture’s highest honor
The Pritzker Prize was awarded Thursday. "In every work, he is able to answer with radical originality, making the unobvious obvious," said fellow Chilean architect and prize chair Alejandro Aravena.
El Niño is set to take hold this summer, driving up global temperatures
A potentially strong El Niño weather pattern will likely emerge this summer and persist through the rest of the year. The hottest years on record generally occur in years when El Niño is active.
‘Songs from the Hole’: The story behind JJ’88’s documentary and visual album
The visual album and documentary Songs from the Hole tells the story of James Jacobs, the hip-hop artist JJ'88, as he reflects on his coming-of-age within California's state prison system.
