Alabama Charter Schools Group Awarded $25 Million Federal Grant
The U.S. Department of Education announced a $25 million grant today to support charter schools in Alabama. The money will go to New Schools for Alabama, an organization that encourages the growth of charter schools.
Since the state legislature approved the establishment of charter schools in 2015, three have opened.
Tyler Barnett, executive director of New Schools for Alabama, told WBHM in an earlier interview the money will help fund 15 schools. He says the group will focus on serving educationally disadvantaged students.
“I think charter schools give us an opportunity to create a new system for kids who are mired in perpetually failing systems,” he says.
Birmingham’s first charter school – Legacy Prep – opened earlier this month. Earlier this week, organizers of the city’s second charter school – I-3 Academy, broke ground on its building in Woodlawn.
Richard Franklin, with the Birmingham chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, says federal dollars could be better spent on supporting academics and other students needs in traditional public schools.
Alabama does not adequately fund its traditional schools, and parents too often have to supply basic school needs like tissue and paper towels, he says.
Franklin also takes issue with charter schools’ emphasis on choice. He says students in Birmingham-area schools already have a full range of choices for academics, International Baccalaureate programs, the arts and vocations.
Pakistan-Afghanistan border closures paralyze trade along a key route
Trucks have been stuck at the closed border since October. Both countries are facing economic losses with no end in sight. The Taliban also banned all Pakistani pharmaceutical imports to Afghanistan.
Malinowski concedes to Mejia in Democratic House special primary in New Jersey
With the race still too close to call, former congressman Tom Malinowski conceded to challenger Analilia Mejia in a Democratic primary to replace the seat vacated by New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill.
A daughter reexamines her own family story in ‘The Mixed Marriage Project’
Dorothy Roberts' parents, a white anthropologist and a Black woman from Jamaica, spent years interviewing interracial couples in Chicago. Her memoir draws from their records.
FBI release photos and video of potential suspect in Guthrie disappearance
An armed, masked subject was caught on Nancy Guthrie's front doorbell camera one the morning she disappeared.
Reporter’s notebook: A Dutch speedskater and a U.S. influencer walk into a bar …
NPR's Rachel Treisman took a pause from watching figure skaters break records to see speed skaters break records. Plus, the surreal experience of watching backflip artist Ilia Malinin.
In Beirut, Lebanon’s cats of war find peace on university campus
The American University of Beirut has long been a haven for cats abandoned in times if war or crisis, but in recent years the feline population has grown dramatically.
