Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin released details Wednesday of a plan to offer Birmingham City Schools graduates the chance to go to a public two-year or four-year school in Alabama tuition free. This follows a tweet Tuesday evening announcing the program.
Starting in 2020, any Birmingham City School student that walks across the graduation stage will have the opportunity to attend any in-state two or four year school tuition free. #BirminghamPromise
— Randall Woodfin (@randallwoodfin) August 28, 2019
The program is part of the mayor’s Birmingham Promise initiative, a public-private partnership that began with an apprenticeship program for BCS students. Woodfin says the college tuition component is second phase and will be offered to students graduating in the class of 2020 and beyond.
Financial awards will be “last dollar,” meaning they will make up the gap left by other financial aid. Students also must live in the city of Birmingham and attend BCS from kindergarten to 12th grade to receive the full amount. Those attending fewer years will have awards prorated.
In a Facebook Live video, Woodfin says he hears from parents who are worried about paying for their children’s college education.
“I want to make sure they have the opportunity to go and they can afford to stay. This is our way of making sure our children have an opportunity,” Woodfin says.
Woodfin says the city will put up at least $10 million over five years to support the program, with additional money coming from private fundraising. Long term plans call for creating an endowment.
According to data from the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, 32% of BCS graduates in 2017 went to a four-year school and 22% enrolled in a two-year college. That study did not break down attendance by public or private institution.
Photo by Sam McPherson
Rainfall was higher than normal this summer across much of Central Alabama.
The coronavirus pandemic’s fourth wave has not changed state-wide back-to-school plans in the Gulf South, where cases are rising and mask use is voluntary.
JaTaune Bosby, the first Black woman to lead the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, took the job during a tumultuous time in the country with the pandemic and last year’s summer of racial reckoning.
The amount of illegal dumping of trash in Jefferson County is "concerning," says county commissioners. They say more needs to be done to address the problem, which could include more stringent penalties.
The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season is likely to be as active as last year’s, when thousands in the Gulf South were without power for weeks after hurricanes Laura, Zeta, Cristobal and Delta. With that increased activity comes a bigger threat to the region’s power grid. How prepared are Gulf States’ energy companies for the threat to come?
Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said the increase is linked to the more contagious Delta variant, coupled with Alabama’s low vaccination rate.
