"Entitlement" Education comes to Sweet Home Alabama

 

Again, I have to hand it to Alabama republicans, they are a....cunning bunch with steel gonads.  The red, republican, dominated State Legislature, enabled by the media,  created a weapon of mass distraction introducing a so-called School Flexibility Bill, that was supposed to let school district seek waivers from some policies.

 The House and Senate education committees will take up today a fight over who will control the state's K-12 curriculum and whether Alabama should continue using national curriculum standards known as the common core.

So while the public debate was focused on Common Core, the red republican dominated Alabama legislators were scheming in the back room... then BAM!  Here come Shock and Awe!

MONTGOMERY, Alabama --Republicans in the Alabama Legislature added a sweeping income tax credit and school choice plan to a school flexibility bill in conference committee today.
The surprise move caused a shouting match in the Senate and accusations by Democrats that Republicans were not dealing in good faith on a bill that had been debated for weeks.

In order to....justify this surprise attack on public education Alabama republicans, bless their hearts, claim this bill will provide a viable alternative to families with children stuck in underperforming schools.  Yeah right.

So instead of finding out why the public schools are failing students and taxpayers (funding), and maybe correcting the problem (equity funding), the solution for the Alabama GOP is to abandon them, and take our tax dollars with them.

Families with students in a failing school could receive state income tax credits to offset the cost of transferring to a private or non-failing public school. The credit would be equal to 80 percent of the average annual state cost of attendance for a public K-12 student.

If the red, republican dominated legislators think there are enough private, or non-failing public schools in this state to accommodate all the students who would, if they could transfer, I have a bridge in Selma to sell them.  But that's the point, they know there aren't enough schools to accommodate all students, so they are making it easier for the entitled few to have access to a quality education at the expense of the entitlement crowd.

 There is a common belief among conservatives that welfare programs by their very nature lead to the kind of so-called breakdown of democracy that Scalia finds objectionable in the Voting Rights Act case. Indeed, the most famous articulation of this view was Mitt Romney’s 47 percent remark: “those that are dependent on government and those that think government’s job is to redistribute — I’m not going to get them.” In essence, Romney warned that as the government creates welfare programs, this transforms welfare recipients into a constituency for those programs. And eventually that constituency becomes so large that it is impossible for a lawmaker to repeal those programs, or for people who oppose those programs to get elected.

Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama, where the republican dominated state legislature cares more about what students read instead of if they can read.

YeeHaw!

"It's all about money and race"

The public school system in Huntsville, Alabama used to be known as the best kept secret in Alabama.  As a product of the Huntsville City School system after integration,  I remember the good old days when all schools were considered "good schools".  When all teachers/principal and support personnel were highly qualified. When young minds were encouraged to reach their full potential regardless of of their zip code, parents income, race, gender, or religion.

The city of Huntsville had the perception of being a progressive oasis in the reddest of the red states.  Huntsville's image wasn't marred with bombings, Bull Conner, dogs and fire hoses.  Nope, Huntsville was thought to be immune from the ignorance of racism when public schools and facilities integrated without fanfare (except for the swimming pool).

So what happened between then and now?  Two words....white flight from north Huntsville to south Huntsville, and the creation of neighborhood schools.  You see, the government can't tell you where to live, but the government can tell you where to attend a public school.

As in most cases, people chose to live based on where they can afford to live.  Taxpayers who live in affluent areas have access to the best public schools their tax dollars can buy.  Taxpayers who live in non affluent areas have access to the worst public schools their tax dollars can buy.

There is a provision in the HCS Federal Court Desegregation order that allows students to transfer from schools where they are the majority race, to schools where they are the minority race.  This is supposed to be a two way deal, but what parent in their right (no pun) mind is going to transfer their child from the best public school their tax dollars can buy, to the worst school their tax dollars can buy?  I mean, really?

Why are public schools in the less affluent area considered to be the worst schools you ask?  Some say it's because of the unfairness of life, it's not their fault the majority of the students are black/brown/poor.  Some say the U.S. Department of Justice is making unreasonable demands on the school district.

I'm convinced we have a separate and unequal school district due to the lynching of public education, not only in Huntsville, but the state in general.  You see, Sweet Home Alabama cares more about property values than educating it's poor/black/brown students.

What those in positions of power fail to realize is we are all in the boat together.  If one end of the boat is clean and bright and the other end of the boat is dirty and full of holes, guess what...the whole damn boat is going to sink.

It's all about money and race.  Keeping those two things in mind, everything else makes perfect sense

Charter Schools are not the solution for poor, black students

According to this story in the Chicago Tribune,  Charter schools aren't performing better than public schools, they are perfoming worse because they don't address the underlying issue of poverty.

Despite the right wing spin that low income schools receive more money, the opposite is true.  A study released by the Department of Education proves high poverty school receive fewer state funds than affluent school districts.  Chapter 1 schools receive additional Federal Dollars to make up for the state and local dollars, but it does not address the inequities.

State Rep. Phil Williams (r.) and his gop cronies are pushing for Charter Schools under the guise poor, black children can escape under performing public schools.  Bull Poo.  If Phil Williams and the gop really cared about the education of poor, black/brown  children they would address the funding inequities instead of whining about  the myth of throwing money at the problem, and trying to destroy the Alabama Education Association.

If Charter Schools were the solution for poor, black/brown, students the gop wouldn't be pushing for them.

Charter Schools are a way around Brown v. Board.

Charter Schools benefit the rich while the rest get the shaft.

It's the Poverty, stupid.

Where are the J-O-B-S?

Update~New Alabama education policy director to push for segregated public schools

Emily Schultz, Alabama education policy director appointed by Gov. Bentley. [Read her resume: Emily Schultz]

Gov. Robert Bentley's new education policy director has worked under some controversial regimes in high-profile efforts to turn around failing schools.
Emily Schultz, 28, began her job as Bentley's education policy adviser in November, with a top priority of getting a law allowing charter schools passed during the next legislative session.
Previously, the Birmingham native worked under Michelle Rhee, who became chancellor of Washington, D.C., public schools after the mayor took control of the district.

Translation with links for clarity;
Gov. Robert Bentley's new segregation policy director has worked under some controversial regimes in high-profile efforts to turn around failing schools.
Emily Schultz, 28, began her job as Bentley's segregation policy adviser in November, with a top priority of getting a law allowing segregated schools passed during the next legislative session.
Previously, the Birmingham native worked under Michelle Rhee, who became chancellor of Washington, D.C., public schools after the mayor took control of the district and cost him his job.

The Alabama Policy Institute definition of Charter Schools emphasis mine

Charter schools are public schools that exist through a contract with either a state agency or a local school board. The charter—or contract—establishes the framework within which the school operates and provides public support for the school for a specified period of time. The length of the contract granted varies by state, from one to 15 years, with the average length being three to five years. The school’s charter gives the school autonomy over its operation and frees the school from regulations other public schools must follow. In exchange for this flexibility, the schools are held accountable for achieving the goals set out in the charter, including improving student performance.

Translation- it frees schools from federally imposed school desegregation plans and allows them to hire non certified teachers, non Alabama Education Association members, fire them at will and to re establish separate and unequal educational opportunities.

This is a brazen lie from the Alabama Policy Institute, emphasis mine;

Charter schools are subject to the same state regulations as traditional public schools, including special education, bilingual education, academic standards and assessments, health, and safety. They may not accept any private tuition payments, nor does money spent on charter schools diminish the resources available for public education.

How can they claim money spent on charter schools doesn't diminish the limited resources available for public education?

Alabama history is headed before a federal judge in Huntsville, as civil rights attorneys argue that the state's method of funding schools purposefully discriminates based on race.
At stake are the state's property tax rates, the lowest in the nation. Attorney James Blacksher of Birmingham contends that tax structure violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, largely by limiting the ability of rural counties to tax wealthy white landowners.
"Because of the anemic property taxes available to most local school systems, low-income students throughout Alabama, who are disproportionately black, suffer from underfunding," contends the suit.
But the state argues that any forced change in tax rates would decrease all property values, injure all property owners who plan to sell, paralyze the commercial real estate market and cause "widespread havoc in Alabama's government and real estate markets."

Again, charter schools benefit the fortunate few but leave the masses behind. I maintain IF Charter schools are the answer, meaning they close the achievement gap and guarantee results, why not do what charter schools are doing in ALL public schools? What if Alabama Cared as Much About Education as We do about Football?

On Saturday, incoming Governor Robert Bentley told an education summit to expect across the board cuts in education funding.

LiA commenter archangelsk says it best;

AEA member and former organizer with the group I believe that I can give you a pretty good idea of why to support the AEA. The Alabama Education Association is the largest teachers "union" in the state. With around 105,000 members (K-12, Post Secondary, Support Staff) it is the largest public employees association in the state. The AEA today has its roots in the AEA and ASTA, in the late 60's the NEA (National Education Association) passed a resolution that required all states with more than one association with membership based on race to merge and in 1969 the two associations here in Alabama merged to one. While the AEA is not an AFL-CIO affiliated organization, the NEA is. There is a competing organization the American Federation of Teachers, that is AFL-CIO, however has been embroiled in some controversy regarding their violation of an agreement with the NEA not to poach members from its affiliates.

The AEA is at the front in defending education at all levels state and local, for teachers and students. It has recently been at the front of efforts to block, School Vouchers, Charter School laws and has had to defend professional rights like Tenure and Fair Dismissal for Teachers and Educational Support Personnel (ESP's) on a yearly basis. In a state where education is not a right, unlike many other states in the union, AEA is a defender. Without the organization you would see the continued segregation of schools, even more of the "segregation academies", the privatization of public schools.

The defacto segregation of public schools in Alabama here we come!

Charter schools are another way of supporting the privatization of schools. Lets use the segregation academy example, parents sick of paying $2500/mo can get together, obtain a charter to open a school from their LEA, create admission/academic/behavior policies that would ensure minority students either could not gain admittance or maintain admittance in said school, resulting once again in de facto segregation. Charter schools are not held to the same standards as traditional public schools are, in other states they are not required to follow stat or district tenure rules, for instance. Charter schools also do not have to necessarily align their curriculum with the state or school district. There is also the issue of running schools for-profit, like businesses. Would you like the quality of your child's education being determined by shareholders or the ability to maintain a bottom line?

As to the issue of education being a right, in order to keep from being required to educate African-Americans, the current Alabama Constitution (written in 1901), unlike other state constitutions, does not have education as a right to its citizens, now, this has been rendered moot by Civil Rights laws, but the fact that the language continues to be present in the constitution implies that Alabama does not value education like other states do.

What is good for teachers, is good for students. Students are unable to vote or participate in the political process and parents are often misguided and un-or under-informed about education of their children. Teachers are at the front line of education, in the trenches experiencing directly the effects of policy handed down by legislatures and school boards. Like any other workforce, happy Teachers are effective Teachers. So maintaining professionalism and having a say in the how education works is important to the AEA and its members.

Before the concern for poor, inner city children crowd cranks up, if Charter Schools helped poor, inner city children the red, republican, Alabama State Legislature damn sure wouldn't be pushing it.

I said it then and I say it again;
Poor inner city parents won't have the option of charter schools either.
That's a real reality. If you think the republicans are clamoring for charter schools to be put in "these neighborhoods" I've got some swamp land in Alaska to sell you. The republicans are clamoring for charter schools as public funding for private schools for them. Sure they'll open 1 or two charter schools in "these neighborhoods" so they can say they are offering some poor parents a choice, but the majority will be in "their" neighborhoods, no poor children allowed in "these neighborhoods".

Mo Brooks, one of two key speakers, said that the Huntsville Housing Authority has in recent years quietly used vouchers to send poor families south and plans now to single out south Huntsville for more.
Going through the numbers at Whitesburg Elementary, Brooks argued that schools in south Huntsville have seen test scores drop in recent years "thanks in large part to what the Huntsville Housing Authority has done to us."

Charter schools are NOT more likely to serve low income, black, brown, gay, special education students than conventional schools, because they don't have to accept low income, black, brown, gay, special education students because they are exempt from the state and federal laws public schools follow. This is a fact not a hypotheses.

I oppose charter schools , and why;

Public money for schooling is best used in the conventional public system. Those who don't want to use that system have the option of private schooling or homeschooling. And we also have magnet schools that work well. Charter schools will simply sap more money from public schools who desperately need it and who will face major cuts during this Depression.

If this doesn't wake up the sleeping Alabama Democratic Party, The Alabama Democratic Conference and the Alabama Education Association I don't know what will. God help the children who are our future if they continue to sleep.

Edit~ Federal Judge Lynwood Smith is no Justice Hugo Black that's for sure

From al.com

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith Friday rejected arguments that Alabama's property tax system unconstitutionally discriminates against black and poor schoolchildren in Alabama.
Smith's 854-page opinion in the Lynch v. State of Alabama case, comes six months after a four-week trial that spanned Alabama's history with extended testimony about Reconstruction, the 1901 Alabama Constitution, former Gov. George Wallace, busing and the power of the Alabama Farm Bureau.
The lawsuit was brought by schoolchildren and their parents in Lawrence and Sumter counties who cited substandard facilities, limited programs and not enough textbooks. The plaintiffs asked the court to order Alabama to rewrite its property tax laws.

Judge Smith rails against Alabama Education system before he ruled for the Alabama Education system.

The judge found that the plaintiffs did not provide sufficient evidence that Alabama's public school funding disproportionately affected black schoolchildren.
In the opinion, Smith said he is bound "to follow orders" laid out in earlier Supreme Court cases on education.
"Like it or not, Supreme Court precedent compels a conclusion that the property tax scheme embedded in Alabama's 1901 Constitution and subsequent amendments does not offend the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause," Smith wrote.
But he also offered a scorching denunciation of the racist origins of the 1901 Alabama Constitution and the present state of education. Smith wrote that state power brokers see little interest in a quality statewide education system, since the children of their most powerful constituents "are generally enrolled in exclusive suburban school systems, with large local tax bases, or in private schools.
"The children of the rural poor, whether black or white, are left to struggle as best as they can in underfunded, dilapidated schools," Smith wrote. "Their resulting lack of an adequate education not only deprives those students of a fair opportunity to prepare themselves to compete in a global economy, but also deprives the state of fully participating, well-educated adult citizens."

RedEye's translation~I know what I'm doing is going to deprive poor students of an equal access to an equal public education but I have to live, go the church,  (snark) and to the Country Club with the power brokers so I'm not going to rock the boat. Heck I pi$$ed them off enough when I halted the ban on payroll deductions for AEA.

Nope. There will be no profiles in courage award for Judge Smith. Too bad he doesn't have the courage and conviction of Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, who despite his past membership in the Klu Klux Klan (to boost is career),  in the end used his powers to eradicate and remedy the sins in the Constitution of the United States of America, when he could have hidden behind it.

As a senator, Black filibustered an anti-lynching bill.[62] But during his tenure on the bench, Black established a record more sympathetic to the civil rights movement. He joined the majority in Shelley v. Kraemer (1948), which invalidated the judicial enforcement of racially restrictive covenants. Similarly, he was part of the unanimous Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Court that struck down racial segregation in public schools. Black remained determined to desegregate the South and would call for the Supreme Court to adopt a position of "immediate desegregation" in 1969's Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education.

Thanks to Judge Smith, the Lynching of Public Education in Alabama continues. Sigh

I'm convinced the status quo republicans in the state of Alabama want to destroy public education in Alabama. After all we just inaugurated a governor who doesn't believe every child has the right to go to college, and elected a red, republican state legislature whose first order of business was to destroy the Alabama Education Association.

Now comes the Lynch v State of Alabama school funding lawsuit where civil rights attorney's claim the states method of funding schools purposefully discriminates based on race.

I have a dream that one day the citizens of Alabama will care more about the future of it's children than they do maintaining their property values.~RedEye

Huntsville City Schools ignores the United States Supreme Court

Remember over 50 years ago when the Supreme Court ruled separate but equal public schools were illegal in the Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka decision? Evidently, Huntsville City Schools didn't get the memo because it's deja vu all over again.

The District’s 2007-2008 overall student enrollment was 43.1% black and 48.7% white. However, the majority of the District’s 47 schools were racially identifiable black or white due to the composition of their respective student bodies.

I've been involved in a *cough cough* discussion with my favorite righty's over at flashpoint who claim the DoJ is ignoring the Supreme Court by forcing the city of Dayton to lower its qualification standards for police and firemen in order to be able to hire more minorities. For some strange reason, white candidates are passing the exam but black candidates are failing the exam. Now the righty's want to say because both groups are given the exact same test, black candidates are failing the exam because they are dumb and inferior. Then I had one of those lightbulb moments and it hit me. The educational opportunities for both groups are not equal and therein lies the problem. Actually, it's that achievement gap thingy.

White candidates taking the exam had access to the best public school education their parent's tax dollars could buy. Whereas black candidates taking the exam were forced to attend low-achieving public schools because you get what you can pay for.

This is why it is of the utmost importance all children have access to a quality public education regardless of race, gender, or zip code.

This is why separately is unequal. It robs children of their ability to reach their full potential.

In the early 1950's, racial segregation in public schools was the norm across America. Although all the schools in a given district were supposed to be equal, most black schools were far inferior to their white counterparts.

In Topeka, Kansas, a black third-grader named Linda Brown had to walk one mile through a railroad switchyard to get to her black elementary school, even though a white elementary school was only seven blocks away. Linda's father, Oliver Brown, tried to enroll her in the white elementary school, but the principal of the school refused. Brown went to McKinley Burnett, the head of Topeka's branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and asked for help. The NAACP was eager to assist the Browns, as it had long wanted to challenge segregation in public schools. With Brown's complaint, it had "the right plaintiff at the right time." [4] Other black parents joined Brown, and, in 1951, the NAACP requested an injunction that would forbid the segregation of Topeka's public schools. [5]

The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas heard Brown's case from June 25-26, 1951. At the trial, the NAACP argued that segregated schools sent the message to black children that they were inferior to whites; therefore, the schools were inherently unequal. One of the expert witnesses, Dr. Hugh W. Speer, testified that:

"...if the colored children are denied the experience in school of associating with white children, who represent 90 percent of our national society in which these colored children must live, then the colored child's curriculum is being greatly curtailed. The Topeka curriculum or any school curriculum cannot be equal under segregation." [6]

Children are our future police officers, firemen, doctors, nurses, lawyers, teachers etc. How can they be our future if they don't have equal opportunity to succeed and equal opportunity to a quality public education?

Huntsville City Schools is not the only school district ignoring the Supreme Court. I'm convinced the status quo want education for the rich but not the least of these.

Don't blame me for the messy bed. I voted a straight democratic ticket.

Uh NO Massa DeWitt, sir, we state democrats did our part. We held our nose and did what the republicans did and voted a straight ticket. If the conservadems had done joined with us, instead of being against us, democrats wouldn't have taken a bloodbath. But noooo, conservadems just had to whup State Senator Hank Sanders for his mad as hell robo call to DEMOCRATIC voters and put his "abrasive wife" in her place. That will learn them about dealing the race card in every hand. Yessum. *Snark*

The Lynching of Public Education in Alabama

I'm convinced the status quo republicans in the state of Alabama want to destroy public education in Alabama. After all we just inaugurated a governor who doesn't believe every child has the right to go to college, and elected a red, republican state legislature whose first order of business was to destroy the Alabama Education Association.

Now comes the Lynch v State of Alabama school funding lawsuit where civil rights attorney's claim the states method of funding schools purposefully discriminates based on race.

Alabama history is headed before a federal judge in Huntsville, as civil rights attorneys argue that the state's method of funding schools purposefully discriminates based on race.

At stake are the state's property tax rates, the lowest in the nation. Attorney James Blacksher of Birmingham contends that tax structure violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, largely by limiting the ability of rural counties to tax wealthy white landowners.

"Because of the anemic property taxes available to most local school systems, low-income students throughout Alabama, who are disproportionately black, suffer from underfunding," contends the suit.

Sweet Home Alabama is a state that cares more about property values than they do educating it's children. Strike that, the State of Alabama cares more about protecting property values than they do educating poor/disenfranchised/minority students.

Concerns over public housing can still draw a crowd, as almost 250 people on Tuesday gathered for the second meeting of the South Huntsville Civic Association.

"We need something in south Huntsville they've had in other parts of Huntsville for years - a cohesive voice," Madison County Commissioner Mo Brooks announced from the stage at Grissom High School.

Brooks, one of two key speakers, said that the Huntsville Housing Authority has quietly used vouchers to send poor families south and plans now to single out south Huntsville for more.

In February, the authority surprised homeowners with the outright purchase of 50 units at Stone Manor near Chaffee Elementary. That sparked a raucous public meeting at Chaffee on April 6 and led to the creation of the civic association.

On Tuesday, the upstart group drew an influential crowd, including Republican Brooks, a former legislator; newly elected state Sen. Paul Sanford, R-Huntsville; state Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur; and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne.

Going through the numbers at Whitesburg Elementary, Brooks argued that schools in south Huntsville have seen test scores drop "thanks in large part to what the Huntsville Housing Authority has done to us."

This is what happens when property values are tied to student/school achievement.

But the state argues that any forced change in tax rates would decrease all property values, injure all property owners who plan to sell, paralyze the commercial real estate market and cause "widespread havoc in Alabama's government and real estate markets."

Yep, opponents know what buttons to push to distract from the real issue, which is racial discrimination.

It has been projected that the relief sought in Lynch could result in 1000% property tax increases on residential and forest land, 500% on business property and 300% on utility properties.

Projected by whom? According to new anointed Left in Alabama Legal Contributor Old Prosecutor, the information is from unsourced articles. I thought factually incorrect information wasn't allowed on the front pages of Left in Alabama, but I digress.

Alabama's property tax rates are the lowest in the nation as is student achievement. Because of the current property tax structure low income students in Alabama, who are disproportionately black suffer from the underfunding. Students live where their parents can afford to live. Students with affluent parents have access to the best public education their parents tax dollars can buy. Students with low income parents have access to the worst education their parents tax dollars can buy.

The state of Alabama might as well give up trying to run a public education system because it's obvious some don't believe believe every child should have access to a quality public education regardless of race, gender, religion or their parents station in life, like this ;

If you live in a poor county and you dont (sic)believe that the school in your area is up to standards the simple and obvious solution is that you move. I would not let my children attend a school that I believed did not prepare them for the future. The problem is you could throw billions at the schools in these black belt areas and you would still end up with the same low level perfomance (sic)that they have now. The reason is that education begains(sic) at home with a caring father and a mother with values and a work ethic who push their kids to do well. And that is something the vast majorty(sic) of these kids dont(sic) have and will never have no matter how much you spend...

That's right, blame the parents with false, media driven, racial stereotypes. Education begins in the classroom with a certified teacher who is given the resources to educate children in a safe, orderly environment that is conducive to learning. One things for sure, not throwing billions at the schools in the black belt areas has produced the same low level performance. Only a fool does the same thing hoping for a different result, so let's "throw billions at the schools in the black belt" and see if we get a different result.

I have a dream one day the citizens of Alabama will care more about the future of it's children than they do maintaining their property values.