New coalition launched to look at Alabama school funding

Telkia Jones, a fifth grade teacher at Charles Brown Elementary School in Birmingham, Alabama, high fives a student on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. A new report found Birmingham City Schools outpaced the nation for learning recovery from the pandemic. (Andi Rice for Alabama Reflector)

A coalition of education and civil rights groups plan to push for changes to how Alabama funds its schools.

A Thursday news release announcing the formation of the coalition said that Alabama is one of the few states to allocate money based on enrollment rather than needs from students.

Education budget chairs Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, and Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, have both spoken in the past about changing the way Alabama provides funding for schools.

“ Alabama has not updated the way it funds public schools in more than three decades, and how we fund them creates large disparities across the state,” said Jason Meadows, the advocacy and partnerships director of A+ Education Partnership, wrote in the release. “ Every child is different, and some children need more support to be successful. A better approach would be to consider the specific needs of students within each school system and ensure every school can fund the resources needed to help them and their families thrive.”

A+ Education Partnership, an education advocacy organization, launched the coalition. Other members include Alabama Possible, Alabama Network of Child Advocacy Centers, Alabama, Goodwill, Faith in Action Alabama, Teach for America Alabama, Huntsville Committee of 100, EmpowerED Birmingham, Birmingham Promise, Alabama Arise, New Schools for Alabama, Mobile Area Education Foundation, Black Alabamians for Education, Breakthrough Birmingham, Baldwin County Education Coalition, Inc., Alabama State Conference NAACP, Education 4 Life, Hispanic and Immigrant Center of Alabama (¡HICA!), AG Gaston Business Institute, Alabama Expanded Learning Alliance, New Life Church of God in Christ, Montgomery Education Foundation, Alabama Families for Great Schools, VOICES for Alabama’s Children, Learning Little People, LLC, and John Wilson, Chief School Financial Officer, Baldwin County Board of Education, according the release.

Every Child Alabama is beginning by launching a 7-part learning series on education funding.

The 1901 Alabama Constitution, passed to take the vote from Black Alabamians and poor whites, includes tight property tax caps that make it difficult for local governments to raise adequate revenue for schools. According to the U.S. Census , Alabama’s per-pupil spending in 2022 was $11,819, 36th in the nation. The national average was $16,340.

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