INTERVIEW: Craig Witherspoon Reacts To Failing Schools List

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2015/03/Witherspoon.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:240;s:6:"height";i:267;s:4:"file";s:23:"2015/03/Witherspoon.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:4:{s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:23:"Witherspoon-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Witherspoon-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:23:"Witherspoon-238x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:238;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:23:"Witherspoon-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:60202;s:14:"optimized_size";i:36183;s:7:"percent";d:39.899999999999999;}s:5:"sizes";a:5:{s:4:"full";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:51:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2015/03/Witherspoon.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:36999;s:14:"optimized_size";i:19595;s:7:"percent";d:47.039999999999999;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:59:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2015/03/Witherspoon-140x140.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:6653;s:14:"optimized_size";i:4769;s:7:"percent";d:28.32;}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:59:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2015/03/Witherspoon-238x265.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:16550;s:14:"optimized_size";i:11819;s:7:"percent";d:28.59;}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => success
        )

)
1652407664 
1371513600

90.3 WBHM Birmingham– Today the Alabama State Department of Education released its list of 78 schools considered failing under the controversial Alabama Accountability Act. The law will provide tax credits for students zoned for failing schools to offset the costs of attending a non-failing public school or private school. Most of the so-called failing schools listed today are middle schools — that’s partly because at that level in Alabama, all those grades take standardized tests. Most of the schools were also in urban areas or the Black Belt.

State Superintendent Tommy Bice and Birmingham Superintendent Craig Witherspoon say the standards mandated by the law do not adequately take into account recent improvements schools have made. Eleven schools on the list are Birmingham City Schools. Our Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen caught up with Birmingham Superintendent Witherspoon today to get his reaction.

 

Museum opens in Czech Republic at site where Oskar Schindler saved 1,200 Jews

The former textile factory in the town of Brněnec was stolen by the Nazis from its Jewish owners in 1938 and turned into a concentration camp. This weekend it welcomed the first visitors to the Museum of Survivors.

Trump tried to fire Corporation for Public Broadcasting board members. Then came DOGE

DOGE staffers tried to assign a team to the independent Corporation for Public Broadcasting after President Trump's purported firing of three board members last month.

A trove of forgotten Nazi documents is found in Argentina’s Supreme Court basement

Inside boxes found in the basement were documents "intended to consolidate and propagate Adolf Hitler's ideology in Argentina," the court said. Supreme Court president Horacio Rosatti has ordered a review.

Texas Lottery faces scrutiny amid jackpot controversies and leadership shakeup

The lottery recently banned online couriers, but some state legislators are considering more regulation.

The President has named a new Acting Librarian of Congress. It’s his former defense lawyer.

Todd Blanche, a former personal lawyer for President Trump, is now acting Librarian of Congress. According to his public profile, Blanche has no experience working in libraries or archives.

Gérard Depardieu faces verdict in sexual assault trial seen as #MeToo test

Women's rights advocates say the case is about whether France's justice system is truly ready to reckon with sexual violence.

More Education Coverage