Senate approves charter schools bill - WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

The Alabama Senate approved a scaled down version of legislation that would authorize charter schools and school flexibility initiatives in the state.

Sen. Dick Brewbaker sponsored the Senate version of the Education Options Act. It passed 23 to 12 with a pair of Democrats, Sen. Linda Coleman and Sen. Jerry Fielding joined Republicans in voting for the measure while Republicans, Sen. Shadrack McGill and Sen. Paul Bussman voted against the bill.

"It is a complete game-changer for these persistently low-performing schools" Sen. Brewbaker (R – Montgomery) said. "This will be a God-send to students who have been stuck in those schools."

Sen. Brewbaker highlighted the part of the bill that requires the Superintendent of the Alabama Department of Education to intervene in a school district if that district's board hasn't made adequate efforts to improve a failing public school.

The most controversial aspect of the bill is the authorization of charter schools.

Under the proposed bill, charter schools would be limited to the most populated urban areas of the state and they can't exist as entirely new schools in districts. They can only replace a traditional public school that has persistently failed to meet state benchmarks.

Sen. Quinton Ross (D – Montgomery) said, "The flexibility and the intervention aspects of this bill I totally support." He continued and said "It's just the idea of charter schools starting another bureaucracy, almost another school system."

Sen. Ross raised the concern that the state was creating a dual public school system that could end up fighting for appropriations from the Education Trust Fund.

The Alabama Education Association had been adamantly against the education reform proposals at the beginning of the legislative session. Dr. Henry Mabry, the Executive Secretary of the teachers union that represents about 95,000 education personnel described the Senate version of charter schools legislation as palatable.

"We've been advocating an intervention program for schools that are not performing up to the level that they should be performing. This legislation addresses some of those concerns." Dr. Mabry said.

The bill would also permit schools to hire instructors who may not be traditional classroom teachers to work with students. A common example was the idea that schools in Huntsville could contract a rocket scientist to teach students physics and propulsion.

The Senate version of the Education Options Act is a much less bold proposal than the one that hasn't yet been voted on in the Alabama House of Representatives. That proposal, sponsored by GOP Rep. Phil Williams would allow for charter schools to exist alongside traditional public schools but would still be limited to the lowest performing school districts in the state.

Sen. Brewbaker's bill will be heard in a House committee next week.

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