Birmingham School Board Approves Application to Authorize Charter Schools
School systems spent the last several months deciding how they’ll react to Alabama’s new charter school law. Tuesday, September 15 is the deadline for school systems to let the state know if they want the authority to approve charter schools in their district.
“In an effort to be a player in this process, we really needed to become an authorizer, so that anyone who is interested in moving forward with a charter school application would have to first come to the school district,” Birmingham School superintendent Kelley Castlin-Gacutan told the board.
Board member Sandra Brown says becoming an authorizer doesn’t mean charter schools will happen in Birmingham right away, but she supports the application since it gives the board some control.
“There is not a choice, period. We’re going to have charter schools in Birmingham whether we become an authorizer or not. But it’s to the board’s benefit that we become an authorizer because we would have control,” she says.
Brown is also concerned about the community’s perception of the board’s decision.
“What I’m looking at is making everything clear for the public. Because with our system everyone is waiting on one wrong move, so we need to have everything on the table,” she says.
Board members still had some questions Monday about charter schools, but Castlin-Gacutan said more answers would come from the state as the process moves forward.
The next big deadline in the charter school process is Nov. 1. That’s when school systems are supposed to have their requests for proposals for charter schools in place.
A deadly explosion outside a California fertility clinic is investigated as terrorism
One person was killed and four were injured in the weekend blast, said Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office.
SNL’s 50th season proved it’s still relevant. Can it stay that way?
The season finale, with host Scarlett Johansson and musical guest Bad Bunny, didn't give any answers about rumored cast departures.
Zelenskyy meets Vance in Rome, hours after Russia’s largest drone attack on Ukraine
The intensified diplomacy came as Russia launched its largest drone barrage against Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.
These Democratic governors are trying to curb health care for unauthorized immigrants
After expanding state Medicaid programs to cover people in the country without legal status, Democrats are considering changes that would reduce immigrant access.
Israel holds ceasefire talks with Hamas, as new ground operation in Gaza begins
Israel and Hamas have entered the most substantive negotiations in months in Qatar. The talks come amid intense Israeli airstrikes that have killed more than 500 Palestinians in the past five days.
Kids notice everything — here’s what one child sees ‘Next to Me’
When they became parents, Dragons Love Tacos illustrator Daniel Salmieri and artist Sophia Haas noticed that they were ... noticing more. So they wrote Next to Me, their first kids' book together.
