Sections
Pre-K: Politics and Poverty
Most education experts believe quality preschool programs are essential to finding a long-term solution to the achievement gap, and will ultimately play a role in helping disadvantaged students escape poverty. But politics can sometimes get in the way.
John Archibald: Railroad Park Shooting and the Birmingham Barons
It's been a bloody week in the Birmingham metro area with five violent deaths yesterday and the fatal shooting of a teenager at a popular downtown park.
Pre-K Series, Part 3: Access Is Everything
Most education researchers and even many economists think high-quality Pre-K benefits children and the communities where they live. But the effects are limited when programs just don't reach many kids. In Part Three of the Southern Education Desk series on Pre-K in the Deep South, WBHM's Dan Carsen has more from right here in Alabama, which has a highly regarded program that reaches a just a fraction of the state's four-year-olds.
Kyle Whitmire: Railroad Park Shooting
For those living in urban areas, it's sometimes possible to become callous or indifferent to the steady drip of crime. While murders in Birmingham are low by historic standards, a shooting this past Sunday in Railroad Park left a 15-year-old boy dead. That's bringing new attention to the issue. The Birmingham News' Kyle Whitmire talk about the community response.
Money Talks: Paying for Pre-K
For many students, Pre-K education makes the difference between early elementary school success and failure. But in cash-strapped Southern states Pre-K is an easy target for legislative budget cuts.
Proving Preschool with Performance
Pre-Kindergarten education is a hot topic right now. In his State of the Union address, President Obama made it a priority. But critics say the research just doesn't support long-term gains from Pre-K. Today, we launch a series examining the value of Pre-K .
WBHM 90.3 FM Education Reporter Dan Carsen Receives Multiple Awards for Journalism Excellence
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.
John Archibald: Education Reforms, Gridlock and what of Atticus Finch?
Education was a leading topic in the courtroom and the statehouse. The Common Core seems to still be the curriculum path of choice in Alabama, despite a major effort to overturn it. Meanwhile, the Alabama Supreme Court has lifted a temporary restraining order that now paves the way for a controversial school choice bill to be signed into law by Governor Robert Bentley. John Archibald and Scott Hanley discuss how leaders came to make changes and also choose to not make a change. Is there room for reason, diplomacy, detail and unwavering decency?
Kyle Whitmire: Fight Continues over School Bill
Alabama Republicans, Democrats and the education community are still in an uproar over the Alabama Accountability Act, almost two weeks after it was rushed through the state legislature. The bill would offer tax credits to parents for transferring their kids from a failing school to a non-failing public or private school. But now there are questions about differing versions of the bill. The Birmingham News' Kyle Whitmire has details.
School Accountability Act Either Brilliant Politics or Despicable Move
Republican legislators dropped a bomb last week with passage of a heavily revised School Accountability Act. Democrats pushed back with a legal challenge, and now the case may go to the State Supreme Court.
Kyle Whitmire: Controversial School Bill Blocked…For Now
A Montgomery judge is extending a temporary restraining order blocking Alabama's governor from signing a controversial school bill into law. But Republican leaders vow to appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court. We hear about the political fallout from The Birmingham News' Kyle Whitmire.
Bloody Sunday: A Commemoration and a Challenge
An estimated 15,000 thousand people, including members of Congress and Vice President Joe Biden, marched across a bridge in Selma, Alabama, Sunday, to reenact what’s known as “Bloody Sunday.” In 1965, civil rights protesters attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery but were quickly met by police billy clubs and tear gas. Bloody Sunday galvanized support for the Voting Rights Act at that time. While the commemoration is an annual event, this year's comes just days after the U.S. Supreme Court heard a challenge to a portion of the law
Nashville Works to Balance School Improvement and Diversity
This week we’ve been visiting schools across the south where student populations have increasingly resegregated. In the final installment in our series, we go to Nashville, where public school officials are finding it a challenge to balance school improvement plans with a desire for racial diversity.
When and Why Schools Resegregate
Since the 1970's, federal court orders have governed how many Southern communities integrated their public schools. But new research shows, as those orders have been lifted, school districts are gradually resegregating. In part four of our series we look at why.
Cell Phones and Rape Take the Stage in Ruined
The Democratic Republic of Congo has been wracked by war for decades, but most Americans know very little about the struggle. Two Birmingham-area theatre companies hope to change that. They're staging an award-winning play that calls attention to the dark times in the Congo.
Supreme Court Might Dismantle Parts of Voting Rights Act
If the questions that came from U.S. Supreme Court justices yesterday are any indication, there’s a good chance Shelby County could prevail in its effort to challenge the 1965 Voting Rights Act. That’s just one of the stories grabbing local headlines this week.
Carsen Talks Education Flashpoints on Capitol Journal
Our Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen recently appeared as a guest journalist on Alabama Public Television’s Capitol Journal, a highly regarded program analyzing the week's significant stories. Dan discusses controversial "school flexibility" legislation, school takeovers, the federal lawsuit against the state takeover of Birmingham Schools, and the Southern Education Desk series on re-segregating schools.
Segregated Schools Fact of Life
New research shows southern schools are increasingly resegregating. In one town in Mississippi the black students attend one high school and the white students attend another. It was a conscious decision that's spurred a lot of debate about the concept of separate but equal.
Supreme Court Weighs Future Of Voting Rights Act
Race is front and center at the U.S. Supreme Court today and so is Shelby County, Alabama. The county is suing the U.S. Justice Department, challenging a requirement that it get prior approval from the federal government to change voting laws or maps.
Kyle Whitmire: Tough Questions for the Voting Rights Act
Conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court asked tough questions Wednesday about the need for portions of the Voting Rights Act. The court is hearing a challenge to the law filed by Shelby County, Alabama. The Birmingham News' Kyle Whitmire talks about the case.
Segregation Academies: Past And Still Present
Ever since the Supreme Court declared segregated schools unconstitutional in its 1954 Brown vs. Board of Ed decision, the racial makeup of our schools has been in flux. Forced integration made the South’s public schools some of the most integrated in the country, but now – here and across the nation – our schools are re-segregating. The Southern Education Desk is taking a deep look at the issue with a multi-part series exploring this complex trend. In the second installment, WBHM's Dan Carsen examines a strategy resistant whites once used to sidestep public school integration, one that still shapes communities today: private so-called segregation academies.
Clinton After Desegregation: A Small Southern Town’s Struggle With The Past
Half a century ago, the civil rights movement launched its legendary struggle for racial equality. Many of its biggest battles were fought here in the south and one of its greatest victories was overturning the federal law that allowed racially segregated schools. But now, 50 years on, studies show schools are resegregating, especially in the south. This week on WBHM, we ask: Why? And what does it mean for students?
Interview: Justin Brown on Sibelius and conducting the ASO
This weekend, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra’s masterworks series features two works by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Music Director Laureate Justin Brown talked with WBHM’s Michael Krall about the concert, as well as his new role with the ASO. Brown says that right from the start, Sibelius made a mark on the Finnish nation….
John Archibald Visits Alabama’s Worst Cities
Birmingham News columnist outraged some readers with his list of Alabama's Best and Worst Cities. He's making amends by visiting some of the underdogs.
Kyle Whitmire: The Fight Over Gambling, Renewed
Alabama's on-again, off-again battle over gambling is definitely on-again this week as Attorney General Luther Strange took action to try and stop four casinos in the state. One is a familiar target -- VictoryLand. The other is newer -- The Poarch Band of Creek Indians. The Birmingham News' Kyle Whitmire has more.
Alabama Versus The Volcano
Climate change is forcing some Alabamians to consider a move. Coastal areas and islands like Dauphin are losing land as the sea rises, flooding is more frequent, and hurricanes could be more dangerous than ever. But for one couple, natural disasters are no deterrent. They've left the Yellow Hammer state for a new life in one of the riskiest places on earth.
John Archibald: Don’t Forget Common Sense in Gun Debate
Gun violence and school safety are taking center stage in Alabama this month. First, the fatal shooting of a school bus driver in Midland City; now, charges against a man accused of holding several Chelsea Middle School girls at gunpoint in a school locker room. And that's just the beginning...
Kyle Whitmire: A Bankruptcy Deal in the Works
Jefferson County commissioners say they have a deal to lower interest rates on a portion of the county's debt. It's a sign a plan to exit municipal bankruptcy could be on the way. The Birmingham News' Kyle Whitmire explains.
Interview: Dr. Robert Corley
In Birmingham's historic Kelly Ingram Park, there's a statue of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. One of the names on the stone pedestal is Robert Corley. Among other things, Dr. Corley teaches history at UAB. He was a founding member of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute board and has served on the city school board. Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen recently sat down with him while researching stories for our special Civil Rights anniversary coverage. Corley says today's students are missing some of that vital history.
New UAB President Ray Watts
The University of Alabama at Birmingham has a new president. The University of Alabama Systems Board of Trustees unanimously appointed Ray Watts as UAB’s seventh president Friday morning. WBHM's Andrew Yeager spoke with Watts shortly after Friday's meeting .
John Archibald: Politics over substance in Montgomery?
With the Alabama Legislature back in session, issues range from cost of living raises for teachers to no fewer than five separate bills dealing with guns. Birmingham News columnist John Archibald says Alabama has hard, weighty problems, that require thoughtful, creative minds. But fixing those problems is something the Alabama Legislature does NOT do well.
Kyle Whitmire: A Penny Sales Tax for Another Five Years
No relief for Birmingham shoppers as the Birmingham City Council, reauthorizes a one percent sales tax for five years. We hear more from The Birmingham News' Kyle Whitmire
