News
Wilkerson Middle Defies the Odds
It's easy to focus on what's wrong with education. And it's no secret that Birmingham Schools, like other urban districts around the nation, face serious problems. But there are schools here that are achieving success regardless. From the Southern Education Desk at WBHM, Dan Carsen has much more.
Magic City Marketplace
New data suggests the hospital industry in bouncing back from the recession in a big way. The nine major hospitals in the Birmingham metro area netted more than $154 million during fiscal year 2010. That’s more than seven times the amount they netted the previous year.
Local Government with John Archibald
John dissects this week's primary election and what it might mean for the future of the Democratic party in Alabama.
WBHM 90.3 FM Wins Six Alabama AP Awards
Public Radio WBHM 90.3 FM’s Southern Education Desk Reporter Dan Carsen is the recipient of three awards for excellence in broadcast journalism for his reporting on education issues in Alabama.
Carsen and Ott EduChat
This week's chat touches on the positive, the negative, and the in-between, or at least the in the eye of the beholder: politics once again makes an appearance.
Local Government with John Archibald
John explains why, despite yesterday's acquittals, the gambling corruption case may not be over. Also, hist takes on the Birmingham Water Works board members for spending $70,000 on travel last year.
Carsen and Ott EduChat
Severe thunderstorms, hail, and multiple tornadoes raked Alabama last week. Were any schools hit? And are there figurative storms on the horizon for the state's Education Trust Fund? In this fifth installment of a weekly series, WBHM's Tanya Ott starts the interview by asking about storm damage and an incredible recovery. The education budget may not be so lucky.
Magic City Marketplace
A Birmingham construction company jumps into the lucrative health care sector and there may be a lot more graduates to fill Alabama's tech jobs.
Local Government with John Archibald
John explains why Jefferson County Commission president David Carrington has called for some county employees to undergo lie detectors tests after someon leaked an embarrassing internal memo to the Birmingham News.
Carsen and Ott EduChat
Alabama legislators have their hands full with a variety of education bills at various stages of development, including ones that would authorize charter schools and offer credit for creationism classes for public high-schoolers. But for this week’s chat with Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen, we move outside of Montgomery for some interesting education news. Carsen tells WBHM’s Tanya Ott that some of it is positive, some of it not – beginning right here in Birmingham.
Birmingham-Southern’s Basketball Team Still on Top
March madness is right around the corner, which means college basketball players are gearing up to make their mark on the postseason hardwood. It’s a particularly exciting time for the Birmingham-Southern College men’s basketball team. They’re poised for a strong tournament run. But as WBHM intern Kenan Le Parc reports, the team’s success comes in spite of several big challenges.
Gin Phillips
The Los Angeles times called Birmingham author Gin Phillips's first book The Well and The Mine an astonishing new novel. It's been compared to To Kill a Mockingbird and earned Phillips the Barnes and Noble Discover Award. So when Phillips started shopping her next novel, Come In and Cover Me , she admits there was a bit of pressure. Come In and Cover Me follows the story of Ren Taylor -- an archeologist who's on a mission to understand an ancient community, but ends up discovering some things about herself.
African American Leaders Question Charter Schools
Charter schools are being hotly debated in Alabama and in Mississippi, where opponents including African-American community leaders say charters will cause greater inequality in education and increased segregation in a state with a history of racial division.
Local Government with John Archibald
Analysis of how proposed 25% state budget cuts would affect local health care and law enforcement and how Jefferson County ended up deciding to lay off tax collectors to save money, but lost money in the process.
Dan Carsen Speaks with Education Icon Diane Ravitch
Diane Ravitch has been a key figure in American education for decades. The prolific author and outspoken advocate was Assistant Secretary of Education and Counselor to the Secretary of Education under the first President Bush. She was a pioneer in the accountability movement, but has since made friends and enemies by changing some of her views. She spoke with Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen, who asked her about issues hot in Alabama right now, including charter schools, charter advocate Michelle Rhee, and much more.
Carsen and Ott EduChat
When it comes to education in Alabama, it's safe to say there's enough going on to keep a journalist busy. In our third installment of a new weekly series, Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen sits down with WBHM News Director Tanya Ott to break down some of it. The interview starts with a recap of recent reports on religion in public schools.
A Constitutional Law Scholar on Ala. Religion in Schools Bill
A bill in the Alabama House would allow public school students to get elective credit for religious instruction. Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen recently interviewed Blaine Galliher, the bill’s sponsor and a proponent of such “release time” programs. The programs would have to be approved by local school boards and would not cost the schools any money. And, Galliher said, students would not be coerced in any way. But a day later, Dan discussed the bill with legal scholar and religious liberty advocate Douglas Laycock...
Local Government with John Archibald
Details on an emergency bankruptcy hearing, looming Jefferson County layoffs, a proposal to term limit the Birmingham mayor and a packed room at a public hearing on a smoking ban.
Interview with Blaine Galliher on Religion in Public Schools
The First Amendment says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” But does that mean public schools can give credit to students for creationism classes? What if they’re off campus and privately funded? A bill in the state Legislature would authorize school boards to set up such “release time” programs. Dan Carsen speaks with its sponsor, House Rules Committee Chairman Blaine Galliher.
Carsen and Ott EduChat
It’s week two of the 2012 legislative session in Alabama and job creation and budget shortfalls continue to take center stage. Officials predict a budget gap in the many hundreds of millions of dollars – meaning cutbacks, possible layoffs, and other belt-tightening measures. WBHM’s Dan Carsen of the Southern Education Desk tells Tanya Ott that the budget crisis in non-education departments could pit the Education Trust Fund against everything else.
Girl Scout Cookie Terrorists
If you're running errands this weekend, possibly doing some grocery shopping, you may run across some very young, but very persistent sales people. Funny Lady Francesca Rosko prefers to call them terrorists...
Alabama’s Prison Problem
Alabama faces a potential $400 million shortfall in the general fund budget this year. And that could leave the state’s already-strapped prison system at a tipping point -- so overcrowded Alabama could face the possibility of a federal lawsuit. As WBHM’s Andrew Yeager reports lawmakers are searching for ways to fix a system bursting at the seams.
Local Government with John Archibald
John's take on the first week of the 2012 legislative session. There's already a standoff over the budget and charter schools.
Interview with Education Reformer Michelle Rhee
Michelle Rhee is an education reformer known for making controversial moves. After closing schools in Washington D.C., she was featured on the cover of Time magazine holding a broom. Her group StudentsFirst is in Alabama pushing for charter schools and new ways to evaluate teachers, among other things. She spoke with Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen, who asked her about what her group's goals mean for people around here.
How Much Do You Know About Charter Schools?
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley says charter school legislation will pass in the 2012 legislative session. Bentley outlined his education priorities in his State of the State address last night. The head of the Alabama Education Association vehemently opposes bringing charter schools to Alabama, calling them experimental and untested. Proponents say the taxpayer-funded schools that operate outside some of the rules that affect public schools offer more flexibility and accountability. Who's right?
Legislature Considers Immigration Law Tweaks
The Alabama Legislature begins its regular session today and one of the big issues lawmakers will consider is changing the state’s immigration law. That law, HB56, is considered the nation’s toughest crackdown on illegal immigrants. When it passed last year it got very little attention from Alabama’s business community, but as WBHM's Tanya Ott reports, business leaders are driving the latest efforts to modify the law.
State Lawmakers Consider Education Reforms
When lawmakers return to Montgomery today for the beginning of the 2012 legislative session, they'll have a lot of meaty issues to deal with, from tweaks to the state's immigration law to a potential $400 million budget shortfall. They'll also tackle several education reform initiatives. The Southern Education Desk's Dan Carsen fills us in.
Carsen and Ott EduChat
When lawmakers returned to Montgomery for the beginning of the 2012 legislative session, they had a lot of meaty issues to deal with, from tweaks to the state's immigration law to a potential $400 million budget shortfall. They're also tackling several education reform initiatives, and as the Southern Education Desk's Dan Carsen told WBHM's Tanya Ott, this year looks to be a lot like last year, with plenty of controversial issues on the table.
The Jefferson County Sound
Gospel music has long been a fixture in African American churches around Birmingham. A new documentary film looks at the revolution of a style of gospel music called the Jefferson County Sound. Greg Bass takes a closer look for WBHM’s Tapestry.
Local Government with John Archibald
John previews the 2012 legislative session and controversial comments by one lawmaker who says teachers shouldn't get a pay raise, but legislators definitely needed one to keep them free from corruption.
Light Skits
After going through some tough times with the death of his father, Light Skits founding member Sam Goodwin needed to express himself creatively. He says the resulting album, Nooks & Crannies, lets listeners inside his mind. With diverse song structures, complex math-pop riffs and screamo vocals, Light Skits lets you rock loud and hard.
The January 2012 Tornado
Residents along the north side of Birmingham are digging out after a line of storms rumbled across the state early Monday morning. A tornado killed at least two people in Jefferson County. And as WBHM’s Andrew Yeager reports, the damage is a reminder of the killer tornados which struck the state just last spring.
