Education Funding

Alabama Lawmakers Reject Gov. Riley’s Charter School Bid

February 11, 2010 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The lure of Race to the Top money was enough to compel lawmakers in some states to rewrite old--and create new--education laws to give themselves a competitive edge in the contest for $4 billion. Legislators in Illinois and Tennessee, for example, revamped laws to make their states more charter school-friendly.

But in Alabama, the potential to win $180 million in RTTT grants has so far failed to move lawmakers to approve legislation that would establish charter schools.

Yesterday, a House education committee effectively killed the measure that Gov. Bob Riley, a Republican, has been pushing. Mr. Riley couldn’t even round up all the Republican members of that panel to vote for it.

Alabama’s shunning of the charter legislation reminded me to look at the other hold-out states to see if the appeal of RTTT cash was changing their minds.

In fact, none of the 11 states that currently prohibit charter schools has acted yet to allow them, although Mississippi might be getting close. States with charter-friendly laws can earn up to 40 points out of a total of 500 in the RTTT scoring rubric. Of course, six of the non-charter states, including Mississippi, didn’t even bother to apply for Round One of RTTT.

Gov. Riley met last week with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and is counting on the nation’s schools chief to make a more persuasive case when he travels next month to Alabama for a previously scheduled event. But Mr. Duncan, in an interview with the Birmingham News, may have undercut the governor’s argument that allowing charter schools is key to a competitive RTTT application.

A version of this news article first appeared in the State EdWatch blog.

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Funding How States Are Rethinking Where School Funding Should Go
There's constant debate over the best way to allocate state money to schools. Here are some ways states are reworking their school funding.
7 min read
Conceptual illustration of tiny people is planning the personal budget, accounting, analysis.
Muhamad Chabibalwi/iStock/Getty
Education Funding A Court Ordered Billions for Education. Why Schools Might Not Get It Now
The North Carolina Supreme Court is considering arguments for overturning a statewide order for more school funding.
6 min read
A blue maze with a money bag at the end of the maze.
iStock/Getty
Education Funding Schools Want More Time to Spend COVID-19 Aid for Homeless Students
Senators want to give districts more time to spend COVID relief funds for students experiencing homelessness.
4 min read
New canvas school bags hanging on the backs of empty classroom student chairs in a large modern classroom
iStock/Getty Images
Education Funding ESSER Isn't the Only School Funding Relief That's Disappearing Soon
Federal relief aid, policies to prevent schools from losing enrollment-based funding, and support for vulnerable families are expiring soon.
10 min read
Vector illustration of a businessman's hand holding a slowly vanishing dollar sign.
iStock/Getty