The state education department's intervention team is now monitoring Birmingham City Schools from afar, a year and a half after it first took control of the school system. The district had been facing major challenges, including a board so dysfunctional it made national news. But that's only part of the picture. In this first of a three-part series, WBHM's Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen delves into the complex and often painful situation leading to state intervention.